The Ponderables of Life

I can see the light at the end of the tunnel!

2011-11-22T14:05:00.001-06:00

I am really hoping that it isn't a train :-)

Everyone has their things that they are thankful for this year and I have a whole list of them.. but the one thing that I am most thankful for, is my daughter.. It has been a long hard year for both of us and I am so grateful that things didn't end up worse...

Heather is the light of my life and the reason I breathe... She has given me the most wonderful gift of a grandson who only reinforces my love for my children.. I love all my children equally but Heather had an especially tough year and here is to hoping that next year is better...

I love you Heather Nicole.. Thank you for picking me to be your mom...

Dresser and chest of drawers project day two

2011-09-25T13:33:00.001-05:00

Well with less than 10 hours invested, sans the hardware, I am done with the dresser.. The chocolate pudding color is perfect and I am thinking old school, white hardware.. what do you think? The chest of drawers begins tomorrow...

Dresser and Chest of drawers project

2011-09-24T20:35:00.000-05:00

Well the grandson is in need of some furniture and times are tight. Lucky for me I found this very nice lady, Jana, on Facebook's people 2 people who had a dresser and chest of drawers she wanted gone.. We worked out a trade for one of my rosaries and off we went this morning to pick it up... It is an older set but it was salvageable..

I brought it home and put it out on the patio and got to work.. The further I got into the project the worse it got.. Turns out it was veneered and not well at that.. The kids had stuck stickers all over it and the color was horrid.. Now I am by no means a carpenter but I know water damage when I see it and the end of the dresser had been damaged pretty severely. But being technically free, who can complain right?

I wound up stripping the veneer completely off of the dresser. The bf is cutting pieces to replace the damaged ones and I have sanded down all of it.. All in one day.. Phew, I am tired... The daughter wanted a brown color, so I went with Olympic primer and paint, all in one, Chocolate Pudding color.. I will get new shiny hardware and I think the set is going to look really good when I am done.. Turns out this is an old Sears brand of furniture from the 50's.. That makes it older than me LOL...

I will keep taking pictures through the project, but being on a time schedule, I hope to be done this week.. Here are a few pictures of the works in progress.

Some days just suck..

2011-09-19T16:12:00.000-05:00

Normally I wouldn't use a title quite so pessimistic, but today is different..

For 10 years I have worked at a job that I truly love, am very good at, and for a company that I love. I have also been lucky enough to have a boss that I respect and admired. I admired her for her strength, her intelligence, her drive, her dedication, and most of all, her patience... with me, with everyone.

We have known for years that she was sick. No one knew exactly with what, but whatever it was, it was bad and not getting better. A couple of months ago, she went home one day and never came back. We knew it was just a matter of time. No one talked about it. She would have hated that. It was just that unspoken thing..

Debbie was one of those women that you wouldn't dare approach and ask about it or offer assistance too because of it. She wouldn't have told you and/or taken it.. Very private. Very strong. Even when you knew she was struggling to get through the day or just to walk to her car. We all hurt for her and we waited. We waited for today.

Today, Debbie doesn't hurt anymore. Today, Debbie doesn't have to be the strongest one, anymore.

So yeah, some days just suck.

Jewelry Making Classes Online at Beaducation: The Blog: Stamped Metal Jewelry...in it to win it!

2011-07-15T15:39:00.000-05:00

Jewelry Making Classes Online at Beaducation: The Blog: Stamped Metal Jewelry...in it to win it!: "Once upon a time, there was a lone copy of Stamped Metal Jewelry , hanging around the Beaducation offices. It was an unruly book. It refus..."

My Craft Channel: Fifth Host Revealed: Teresa Collins & Bonus Giveaw...

2011-07-15T08:13:00.000-05:00

My Craft Channel: Fifth Host Revealed: Teresa Collins & Bonus Giveaw...: "What a great week!! We're so excited to continue our week of new host introductions, but of course before we proceed we better give..."

My Craft Channel: Fourth Show Host Reveal: Art. Redefined with Chris...

2011-07-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

My Craft Channel: Fourth Show Host Reveal: Art. Redefined with Chris...: "Can you believe we're on day 4 of our 20 Day promotion and so excited at the response. But the first order of business is to announce our th..."

My Craft Channel: New Show Featuring Kristine McKay, MCC Founder

2011-07-13T12:33:00.000-05:00

My Craft Channel: New Show Featuring Kristine McKay, MCC Founder: "We're so excited to continue our week of new host introductions, but of course before we proceed we better give away our Cricut E2 machine ..."

My Craft Channel: Stacy Julian Joins My Craft Channel & Winner Revea...

2011-07-12T09:53:00.000-05:00

My Craft Channel: Stacy Julian Joins My Craft Channel & Winner Revea...: "We are so excited to unveil our next host.... But before we tell about her and her new My Craft Channel show we need to announce the Cricut..."

My Craft Channel: Unveiling our First Hosts: Kim and Kris of DIY Dis...

2011-07-11T13:37:00.000-05:00

My Craft Channel: Unveiling our First Hosts: Kim and Kris of DIY Dis...: "We are so excited to start off our 20 Cricuts in 20 Days promotion with two amazing ladies, Kim and Kris of the DIY Dish . Read ..."

Simply Designing: Giveaway

2011-06-23T10:20:00.000-05:00

Simply Designing: Giveaway

@Simply Designing is giving away a Cake Pop Maker! Go enter to win!"

I really am a lucky person...

2011-06-21T16:09:00.000-05:00

I have always had a lucky streak and this month has been good.. I not only won concert tickets from a local radio station, I just found out that I won this contest: Under the table and dreaming.....

I picked the Garden Blooms pattern... Whew heww... Thank you Stephanie.. I love your blog..

I will be blogging more as time goes on, I just have to get caught up first lol...

Well it's official...

2011-06-10T09:17:00.000-05:00

The house has been sold and I am not the least bit unhappy about that... Oh I know I should be but I am not. I haven't lost one bit of sleep and I can assure you, I won't look back on this as anything but a learning experience.. I pity the poor person who purchased it though.. it is gonna cost them a chunk to repair everything that I couldn't...

Now it is time to make some other decisions in my life.. none that I can speak of on here yet.. It might jinx me in some fashion LOL....

I will certainly let everyone know once the plans are in place... :-) wish me luck!

Tatertots and Jello: My Favorite Things Week -- Luminess Air Makeup System {$350+value}

2011-06-09T12:54:00.000-05:00

Tatertots and Jello: My Favorite Things Week -- Luminess Air Makeup System {$350+value}

Under The Table and Dreaming: The Sunday Showcase Party with Pfaltzgraff Giveaway!

2011-06-05T15:46:00.000-05:00

Under The Table and Dreaming: The Sunday Showcase Party with Pfaltzgraff Giveaway!

Half Baked – The Cake Blog » Summer Reading List Giveaway

2011-05-23T13:01:00.000-05:00

Half Baked – The Cake Blog » Summer Reading List Giveaway

It’s a Fabulous Crafty Cutting Silhouette Giveaway! | Southern Hospitality

2011-05-23T09:45:00.000-05:00

It’s a Fabulous Crafty Cutting Silhouette Giveaway! | Southern Hospitality

Between Naps on the Porch: How Stella Susan Got Her Crafting Groove Back

2011-05-23T09:26:00.000-05:00

Between Naps on the Porch: How Stella Susan Got Her Crafting Groove Back

IHeart Organizing: IHeart: Silhouette & a GIVEAWAY!!

2011-05-18T12:11:00.000-05:00

IHeart Organizing: IHeart: Silhouette & a GIVEAWAY!!: "I am SO excited I can barely contain myself. I mean, I want to climb up to the rooftops and scream with all of the glee in me, 'I am giving..."

A bowl full of lemons.: May Silhouette Giveaway!!

2011-05-18T07:49:00.000-05:00

A bowl full of lemons.: May Silhouette Giveaway!!: "Im so grateful to be able to give away Silhouette SD machines on my blog. This week, I am offering another chance at a giveaway! This set ..."

Daily Ponderables...

2011-05-05T10:51:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had one of those days that, no matter how hard you tried, the day just sucked anyway? Yep, that's today for me...

It wasn't but a couple of weeks ago that we lost a co-worker.. Tom, head of our catalog marketing. He and his wife Rebecca have more talent in their little fingers than anyone I will ever have the privilege to meet (http://rebeccazook.blogspot.com). Took the wind out of our sails...

Now today we lost another. A man that I had a great deal of respect for. A man who could cuss you and charm you all in the same breath.. Most people here were scared of Larry, he headed the finance end of our corporate office. At least those downstairs here (us peons) were anyway.. I never was. The first time he yelled at me, I gave it right back too him.. he just smiled. We never got cross ways again. After Larry had his stroke a few years back, it slowed him down physically but not mentally. He could pull numbers right off the top of his head and they were the right numbers...We were always leaving at the same time and we would joke about having a foot race... He always won by the way :-)

Larry put off retiring. He wanted to wait until his wife was old enough to draw her benefits and then they would retire together. He never got that far. He literally worked right up until he died. He was waving at us girls just yesterday, as he was driving out of the parking lot.

I learned a lot from Larry, maybe we will just call this another lesson learned. Maybe the most important lesson. I, for one, refuse to work right up until the end. Enjoy what you have, when you can. Never, ever put off your own happiness. Things will take care of themselves if you just have a little faith. If you get your ducks in a row, before it's "your time"... you will be fine. You might not be Bill Gates wealthy, but if your bills are paid and you have a roof and food... what the hell more could you want?

Wait... damnit! That is the same life lesson I learned from my daddy (miss you and love you lots)..!

Life is too damn short to work yourself to death or to be unhappy.

A bowl full of lemons.: Silhouette GIVEAWAY!!!!

2011-04-22T09:12:00.000-05:00

A bowl full of lemons.: Silhouette GIVEAWAY!!!!: "A SILHOUETTE GIVEAWAY!! I was sent a Silhouette Rhinestone Starter kit this month, to try out and giveaway along with a Silhouette SD Mac..."

Daily Ponderings

2011-04-12T11:22:00.000-05:00

Well it's official.. I finally got moved in to the boyfriends house. Of course moved in doesn't mean unpacked lol... Bless his heart. We are both independent and have been on our own for a while but he is adjusting well LOL...

Now I can spend my evenings getting everything unpacked and get my work area reorganized.. Maybe then I can sit down at get some work done. It is driving me NUTS!

Temps are climbing and the humidity is dropping so the grass fire threat is getting worse. Got some big uglies burning out in West Texas and in the Panhandle.. Sure hate to see the Summer get here. I hate the 100+ temps. I hate the electric bills that go with them lol... Gonna have to get a swimming pool at this rate :-)

The grandson now has two bottom teeth.. he is the greatest thing in the world. He is the happiest, funniest baby. He loves his Papa and everyone else ceases to exist when he is around lol... Sometimes I think the only reason he loves me is access to Papa :-) (not really)

My daddy would have been 74 years old this year. His birthday was Sunday the 10th. He sure would have loved his grand babies.. I sure am sorry that he didn't get to be here for them. My memories of growing up with the rest of my family is one of my greatest treasures. I hope it is for Caleb too when he gets grown...

I finally got quite a few rosaries done and even a few necklaces and "auto" rosaries.. you know, the kind that hang from the rear view mirror? I will have a few more pieces done before the show. I am working on some domino size pendants and some new earrings to add to the inventory...

Well it is time to go back from lunch.. talk to you next time!

Daily ponderings...

2011-03-18T15:30:00.002-05:00

A few years ago I was blessed with winning a trip to Japan from EK Chain, one of our vendors. There was 16 of us all total and not a one of us spoke the language. The flight over was great. We had Japanese flight attendants who were the best in the industry. The service we received while in country, was the best I have ever experienced. Tipping is not permitted. On our last day there, I was speaking with the manager of the Imperial Hotel. I asked him why it was frowned upon. He stated, "Excellent service should be expected, not bought". I thought that was a pretty good answer.

We spent a week touring the chain factory and sight seeing. I was both amazed and disappointed. Of course I went thinking that what I would experience would be Japan of my history and school books. That Japan doesn't exist. Not in the manner in which we were taught anyway. What I did find was an incorporation of everything old, historic, and beautiful into a thoroughly modern economy that wants so desperately to be American. I was so surprised at the number of "American" businesses, IE.. The Hard Rock, 7/11, McDonalds, and so on...

I would dare say that 90% of the country does not speak anything but Japanese, contrary to what we have been taught. I think that the much younger generation might very well be bilingual, but the typical adult is not. We were lucky enough to have two wonderful young ladies that were bilingual as tour guides and they took us to some of the neatest, off the beaten path places..

We did discover that the "old school" Japanese businesses don't want Americans to come in. We found this out because we were trying to find a restaurant that served dumplings. As we came in with our guides, they kept waving "NO" and trying to hold the door for us to leave. At first I was offended until I found out the reason. They don't like it because they don't speak English and are worried that a miscommunication would cause offense. See, Japanese people will not approach you or even speak to you, at all, unless you speak to them first and that is considered rude behaviour, to engage someone you don't know, in conversation. They won't even look you in the eye as they are afraid to encourage conversation.

The architecture was so neat to see.. you would see old, traditional Japanese structures, literally incorporated into the facade of new, modern, glass and steel buildings. Rather than destroy the old, they would just attach the new, right to it.

We stayed a couple of nights in a traditional Japanese, sleep on the bamboo mats, on the floor, hotel. Complete with the public bath (which I declined to try) and the beautiful gardens. I was worried that my 40+ year old bones weren't going to take sleeping on the floor as well as they used too. I have to admit I was impressed. I don't know if there is a secret to those mats but that was some good sleep.

On our trip we stopped in this little mountain town. I never got the name, I am sure I couldn't pronounce it even if I did. This town was literally built up the side of this mountain. Narrow, curving roadways, that led straight up the mountain and into the clouds. It was green, clean, and stunning. I bought a few things while we were there and we then headed off to Motegi for the Moto GP Race and the Honda Museum.

We spent the rest of the morning admiring Mr. Honda's legacy. The Honda Museum was the most interesting place.

Exhibited at the entrance of the Honda Collection Hall is this bicycle equipped with an auxiliary engine made from a small, remodeled unit that had served as a power generator for an old no. 6 military radio transmitter (October 1946). This engine marked the origin of Honda Motor, the start of a dream. "Yume," the character for "dream" in Japanese that is seen etched on the glass, is in founder Soichiro Honda's own writing. Honda's dreams were always grand, and in that spirit, he boldly took up the challenges before him.

I only made one purchase there. I purchased a Sterling Silver pin for my vest. It is the Yume, referred to in the picture above. That pin is my treasure, it signifies MY dreams.

It appears that a very large number of the things that I had the great privilege to see, may no longer exist. See, thanks to Mother Nature, it appears that the area from just North of Tokyo up to Sendai, has been obliterated. I am sure the Honda Museum still stands and that Motegi, the Twin Ring Moto GP track is still there but they did sustain some serious damage. That little mountain town, I cannot imagine survived the horrendous earthquake. I hope it did but I somehow doubt it. The amount of devastation that took place just astounds the mind.

We flew back on American Airlines with American flight attendants.. I have to say that the service coming back, SUCKED.. big time. Absolute night and day from their Japanese counterparts.

I am certain that the wonderful people of Japan will pull through this. They have survived utter devastation before. I know that I admire their hard work and tenacity. I admire the fact that they are not screaming for the rest of the world to come save them, even though we are trying. But I also know that they have a lifetime of hard work and sadness to get through.

Daily ponderings..

2011-03-14T13:33:00.000-05:00

I have no idea where I got this need to create things. Sometimes it drives me nuts to have to do other things, like work lol... Even at work I am putting together ideas. This year the Fort Worth Art Goggle is May 14th, so I am scrambling, trying to get product made, working on new ideas, and trying to get moved at the same time...

After a long, hard Winter, I have the money to get caught up on my mortgage, but it appears that they don't want my money.. I cannot get ANYONE from Flagstar Bank to call me back. Not that I really WANT to keep that damn house but I was going to do the right thing, get caught up, let the kids live there for a few years, then sell it when the market rebounded better...

Looks like I may be putting the kids in an apartment and mailing the keys back after all. That might work out to my advantage anyway though... I will have Caleb around the corner. We will be close if we are needed.

Of course this all depends on what they find.. ugh I hate moving.

Ahhh... another day in paradise..

2011-03-08T10:20:00.000-06:00

Just a shame we aren't all there right?? lol.....

After a weekend with the stomach flu, I have decided that being sick SUCKS...! I have also come to the decision that there are certain people in this world that were not graced with manners and common sense.. I have a few co-workers that are of the mind that demanding something will get them assistance faster or that waiting until the last minute to do something will prompt me to help them faster...... Not with me it doesn't.

A lack of planning on your part, does not constitute an emergency on my part.

I hate moving... trying to organize the kids moving in and me moving out is a cluster... Starting to make yard sales piles and donation piles.. Not enough room for everything... Gotta take the motorcycle down to the boyfriends so he can get it inspected and out of the way... Still trying to get product made for the Art Goggle in May. Have some rosaries done and starting some jewelry.. just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day :-)

I will get some pictures up.. when I create that 25th and 26th hour...

New projects on the way...

2011-03-02T19:12:00.000-06:00

I have been behind on keeping up with this because I am getting things settled.. Heather, Josh, and Caleb have been living here with me for a time and now they are taking over the house. I will be moving in with the boyfriend and with the price of gas, will be riding the motorcycle ALOT...

I have quite a few rosaries and necklace ideas that I will be posting on here and getting ready for the Art Goggle of Fort Worth in April..

Daily Ponderings.. Another fine day of home ownership adventures...

2010-10-01T22:14:00.000-05:00

Yesterday (Thursday), I go up to check the mail. Fort Worth has our neighborhood setup to a central mailbox drop for the convenience of the mail carrier and mine is two doors up. So I go get the mail and I am walking back to the house, opening my water bill as I go. I step off the retaining wall about the time I notice that my water bill is 94.00. WTH?? It is only me living here. I don't have a sprinkler system. DAMN! SPLASH!. HUH??? Oh no... and that's when I notice that my side yard is a spongy lake. Not just a little wet.. No! No wonder my beautiful oak tree did so well this year.. ughh.. Ok, where is the water coming from? I notice that it is drier, closer to the house. Hmm.. so I turn back towards the meter box and the retaining wall and that is when I see it. There is literally water running out of the meter box.

Now my meter box has that HEAVY metal lid on it so I have to go get a screw driver to lift it off of there. Jeez... yep, it is full of water and mud. Crap! It is so full I cannot even turn the water off because I cannot find the turn off. Ok. Go call the city water department, so much for customer service.

The phone was answered by an obviously black woman. No big deal.. except she could care less about her job or my leak and was in no hurry to do ANYTHING.. twice on hold, she finally comes back and tells me that they will call me to set an appt.

Me: "REALLY? An appt?"

Her: "You obviously don't have water gushing down the street and your water pressure isn't affected so it isn't considered an emergency. They will call you and set your appt. tomorrow."

UGH! So I ask her that once the leak is fixed, how do I go about getting my bill adjusted?

Her: "We aren't going to adjust your bill. Your responsible for the full amount."

Me: "If that leak is inside that meter box, I don't think so."

Her: "The City of Fort Worth is not going to adjust your little bill because of a minor leak and if I send someone out and they find the leak is on your side of the meter, you will be responsible for repairs."

Me: "Your not serious?"

Her: "Hmphh"

Me: "Let me explain something to you.. First and foremost, when I get done with your supervisor, about your piss poor customer service and attitude, I will get my bill reduced. It is up to you which news channel I call to get this resolved?"

Her: "Have a nice day." click she hangs up..

I could describe the words that came out of my mouth at that point but if you know me? I don't have to.

I then called back and got a very sweet, very helpful, customer service rep on the phone and she made sure that the field supervisor would be here first thing this morning. BLESS YOU! She also made sure that the customer service supervisor was aware of the previous call... Thank you.

I call in and take the day off because who knows how long all this is going to take.

It wasn't long after 9 am that I noted a water dept truck out front so I went out to meet the guy. He had just finished pumping the water out of the box when I got there and I looked down and knew right away, this was going to be all mine to deal with.. Now mine is a shared meter box with my neighbor and the water guys told me that it wasn't all mine.. Yes I did have a leak but so did my neighbor. Hmm... ok, so we go get the neighbor and we are talking with the wife. He explains how we both have leaks and told us that he DID NOT recommend us using the city service to fix it as it would be VERY expensive. That was nice of him.. I talked to the neighbor and they were about to head out of town and if I wanted to get some estimates, then we might just split the bill. Even better!

I called my wonderful AC guy to ask for a referral for a good plumber and he gave me the name of one. I called and YIKES! Not only did he not do FREE estimates but it was 375.00 for leak detection and just to show up! Uhhh NO! that isn't happening. So I head over to the Superpages.com website because I have seen the commercials on tv. I immediately find a plumber that does free estimates AND he can be right over. Nice.

He gets there and he locates the leak and gives me an estimate for my side. 275.00 if we dig it, 500.00 if he does.. OUCH. Jeez.. The neighbors husband comes out to ask what was going on? He was waiting on the city to come by because he called them yesterday because he had a leak.. Umm yep, we know and your wife (who is standing right there) has already talked to me and the city guy.. That's why we are getting estimates? He just nods and smiles... this is not very promising.. The plumber looks up at him and informs him that he does have a leak but it isn't anywhere near the meter box. It appears he might have either a slab leak or line leak under his driveway.. 1500.00+ dollars to start with...

Ummm no offense but we aren't splitting this bill!

The plumber leaves and I call the boyfriend to inform him. He decides to come up and have a look. When he gets there, he decides he will dig it and save the extra money. God love him. :-)

He dug it and man that was an eye opener. Another rigged issue from the previous owner.. We called the plumber and he came right back out and took care of it. He was even nice enough to drop the bill by another 25.00 AND gave me a warranty. Nice!

Well if you made it this far, thank you for your interest... Talk to you later..

Daily Ponderings... The joys of homeownership continued...

2010-09-30T12:35:00.000-05:00

Welcome back, I must not have bored you to tears with the previous episode.. We left off at the carpet adventure.. After I loaded in the new flooring, I convinced the boyfriend that he loved me enough to install laminate flooring.. Ha! I bet that doesn't happen again lol... In all actuality, the laminate went fairly smooth for two people that have never done this before :-) Of course I bought enough for the living and dining rooms and down the hall. Problem is, I didn't get enough at that moment to finish the hall. Of course at that point the economy was starting to tank and I got paniky. I held off buying any more flooring to finish out the house, thinking this was a temporary dip in the economy.. Boy was I wrong.. without going into details, just know that I sell motorcycle parts and a motorcycle is considered a luxury. Guess what moves to the back burner in a bad economy? Yep, the luxuries.... Here we are nearly two years later and they say the recession has ended. Really? I will say that things have improved but they are by no means good. Anyway.. I will say that at least my cats are having the time of their lives on the new floor... Remember the movie, Over the Hedge? Yep... more pad and less claw Hammy....

Now when I bought the house, the only screens it had on it were on the very front... The bedroom windows are the side to side sliders and good lord that is a pain making screens for, but I did it. Things are looking up... Somewhere around January, I came home one day and it was COLD outside.. I thought it felt cool in the house but since I had just came in, I didn't really think about it. Although around 3 in the morning, I realized that both cats are burrowed under the covers and it is downright frosty in the house. Uh oh. Not a good thing since the heater is set on 72. Luckily, the next day, my mother put me in contact with a GREAT AC/heat repair guy... Bless his heart he came straight out and found the problem in no time. Lucky for me it is was just some fuses and he had them replaced within an hour and didn't charge me my right arm and left leg for the service.. Bless you Mike!

April rolls around and so far, so good... I am headed for work one morning and notice there is water under my garage door. WTH? I go back in to check and discover a hose to my hot water heater has split and is spewing water everywhere. Oh and it is above the heater so I have to go out to the curb to shut the water off... Now this isn't a problem.. I know how to do that. I open the meter box lid and MOTHER OF GOD! I have never in my life seen so many fire ants... The entire meter box is one big fire ant bed.. Now I know they didn't move in there at that level overnight. So does this mean that the meter man has NOT been reading the meter? Now we have a problem... The boyfriend comes over and fixes the water line and I call the water department. The man on the other end informs me that he doesn't deal with fire ants and that it was my responsibility. Now a little common sense please. YOU put in the meter. YOU put in the box that holds the meter. YOU come out every month and read the meter, I don't. YOU turn my service on and off as needed. Therefore, it would be YOUR responsibility to clear the meter so that you can read it and not ESTIMATE my usage. Because when you do come out and read my meter and I have the water bill from hell? Guess which news channel I am going to call first?... Yep, I thought you would see things my way. Thank you..

Well the ants got cleared and low and behold I DID NOT get a huge water bill. Nice... Now that everything is dried out and seems to be working normally...

The next month, one morning, I go to take my usual shower. My shower is one of those, one handle turn left or right for cold or hot type? It has a push plunger to turn the shower on or off. Push in for shower, out for bath... easy? No. It has always been real hard to pull out for the bath setting but I got the hang of it. As I am turning on the water, I notice that a stream of water is shooting out the plunger. Hmm... I push in the plunger and the stream lessens but not completely. Ok, I can deal with this... Don't know why it is doing it but ok...

About a month later, I get in the shower and push in the plunger. It pops right back out. I push it in again.. It pops all the way out, and I mean ALL THE WAY out.. it lands in the bathtub. Hmm... I turn the water off and put it back in. I put it in and hit it. It stays in, PERMANANTLY... Oh hell, at least I can still take a shower. Now what the hell is the name of that part and where do you find one? Not at Lowes or Home Depot. I actually had to find it at one of those online specialty plumbing shops... at least it isn't expensive.

Well, I will finish the story later... Thanks for visiting...

Daily Ponderings

2010-09-25T10:33:00.000-05:00

Well I am back.. As you can see I have changed up the design of the blog a bit.. I have opened a couple of online stores for my photographs. You can make and design most anything you can think of with any of my photographs that you would like. Please let me know what you think.. I have been a bit getting back to this blog because I have been getting my pictures and jewelry ready for the Fort Worth Art Goggle. I have never participated but this year I will have both my pictures and some of my jewelry on display for purchase. Here is a pdf of all the galleries participating, I will be showing at The Gallery at Landers Machine Shop: http://www.fortworthsouth.org/FWS/resources/ProgramGoggleFall2010Small.pdf

Come by and see us if you get a chance...

Daily ponderings....

2010-09-16T10:39:00.001-05:00

Do you remember the movie "The Money Pit"? For those of you that don't, feel free to go to IMDB.com and read about it... it is about a couple buying their "dream home" and the comedic pitfalls of restoring it. Now in the real world, I would expect to find more problems as I dismantle and reassemble a house, but I am not doing that. I am simply living in this house from day to day. I have lived in this house for 2.5 years and I can assure you that not one of those days has gone by that I didn't worry about something else that is going to break, fall off, and/or quit working. Let me begin at the beginning, 2.5 years ago, April 2007.

I had never bought a house, by myself and really, nothing big I ever did in my life, came off smooth as glass and without a hitch. I should have known, right off the bat, that when this did, I was in for trouble. Finding the house was fast. The purchase was fast AND smooth. I got a great interest rate and payments that I could easily afford. The finance company sent out an inspector and everything checked out, not one problem. I should have known...

I closed on the house in April of 2007 and a week later I was moving in... and that is where everything started going wrong! Now the boyfriend is all in helping me move and I have had a head start packing.

We are moving in the very first load and as I go to unlock the door, we can't? Why not? It worked fine the day before? Hmmm.... go around to the back of the house and go in the back door, only to find out the tumblers have locked up on the front door lock, now what? Damn! Ok, get the door open and at least get the truck unloaded, then one of us is off to Wally World for new locks... done. Whew, what an adventure. Since we didn't get the beds moved and the set up, I stay at the apartment, one more night..

We spend the next day, ALL DAY, moving, EVERYTHING...Lowes delivers and sets up my brand new refrigerator, whew hew.... Exhausted but happy, I fall into my bed, in my new house, and I am out like a light. I am expecting the best night of sleep in a very long time. No one walking on my ceiling.. No strange car door noises. I have no idea what time was, when I am woke up by the most horrible, banging and clanging AND it is inside the house! I jump up and hit the light only to discover that the ceiling fan/light is swinging wildly around the room and about to take flight. I kill the fan at the wall and try to figure out what the hell caused this. Oh, did I mention that I have 17 foot ceilings throughout the house? Yeah... Ceiling fans on 5 foot down rods.. NICE....

Ok, I don't have a ladder that will reach that high yet, but what the hell, right? Life is just one big adventure and this is but another curve in the road. We get up the next morning and discover that the brand new refrigerator is not cool. Hmmm... Ok, so this ISN'T a problem with the house per se, BUT..... Now in Lowes defense, they were Johnny on the spot and came out within hours with another brand new fridge and we were good to go. All better and I am starting to relax....of course that was until I priced 12 foot ladders! Have you seen the prices of those things? Man they are proud of them. Well that is just gonna have to wait.

Things rocked along for a couple of weeks and I was really just beginning to think that we had passed the worst... ahhh but I was wrong.. Mother Nature hadn't had her turn at me yet. It was nearly a month after I moved in we had some huge storms roll through. No tornadoes, but 60+ mph winds are bad enough. Of course the hail was HUGE and did I mention my house has a skylight in the bathroom? Yep, who ever thought of skylights in Texas should be shot. Yep, two holes and it was leaking like a sieve. Lucky me, at least the skylight is over the tub :-)... Of course that was all before I walked outside to go to work and discovered that half my fence was on the ground. Really? Could this day get any better? Wired up the fence, the boyfriend climbed on the roof and patched the skylight.. joy..

Of course when you buy your first house you have to buy all the trappings of home ownership... Lawn mowers, weed eaters, that sort of stuff. I prefer a light weight, electric weed eater. No biggie. Got a good one on sale for CHEAP. Saturday morning, I am out doing the new home owner thing... I mow and dutifully put away the mower and break out the weed eater and plug it in. Hmm... nothing. I make sure I have a good connection on both ends of the cord, yep we are good. Hmm... still nothing. I unplug and plug into the lower plug.. Nothing. I unplug and move to a totally different plug. STILL NOTHING... Ok, now I am irritated. I have to literally plug in, inside the garage and run the cord around one side of the house. I plug in, inside the garage (thank God for long extension cords) and GET NOTHING.... $(#&*&%*()#(*$!!!

I throw my hands up, put everything away, call the boyfriend, fuss and cuss, and then go take a shower. After the shower, I plug in the hair dryer. NOTHING!! Ok, now I am seeing RED... NOTHING WORKS.. Oh that's an exaggeration, all the other plugs in the house work.. all the ones farthest from what I NEED! I turn around and hit the light switch and realize it is REALLY warm... Now that worries me. Crap... I know plumbers. I know AC guys... I don't know an electrician to save my life. CRAP!

Long story short, I got all that taken care of. I should be happy. Things are finally starting to rock along and I decide I want laminate floors in the house. Not really something I had planned on but it appears the prior owner had cats. ALOT of cats, I eventually found out (via my ever so helpful neighbors). What they didn't tell me was that apparently she kept a bunch of them in the house. Not that cats in the house is a problem. I have two very old, very cranky, part human, cats. But it becomes a problem when your cranky cats decide they have to cover the odor of the other cats. ARGGHHH... nasty, nasty, nasty! Oh and don't believe everything you read. Odor eliminators and pet stain removers? Not so good on cat stains. I tried everything I could find. I read suggestion on the internet and not one thing worked. So my solution? Rip out the carpet and put down laminate. Not a bad idea since one room with the carpet problem was the dining room.. Who, in their right mind, puts carpet in a dining room? Really?

So out comes the carpet. The boyfriend and I spend one weekend ripping the carpet out of the dining room, the living room, and down the hall. UH OH... not a good idea... who would have thought that this was the original carpet from when the house was built, in 1984?? YUCK, EWW, NASTY, NASTY, NASTY!! I cannot get that carpet out fast enough. Good lord how many cats did she have??? Carpet is now curbside in the very hot Texas, early summer heat. Lord am I glad they came around and got that stuff within a day or two. Age, cat urine, and God knows what else, simmering in the Texas sun was starting to get ripe. I am thinking the trash guys don't get paid near enough for the stuff they have to deal with...

So the carpet is out and I spend a day or two just scrubbing the fool out of the floor. I put down some stuff that was recommended to deodorize the cement underneath and then seal it so there is no more smell. It worked!!! Hurrah! Something actually worked as advertised. Now all I have to do is get the flooring and I am set. So, off to Lowes I go, in search of the perfect color for the perfect price.. I found it!! Oh my goodness it is EXACTLY what I wanted, so I buy tons of it and head home. I am unloading it into the garage and neatly stacking it. Did I mention that those boxes of laminate are not only VERY heavy, but bulky too? Just an FYI... when you drop one on your toe? Either pray for steel toes or be prepared for one nasty and extremely painful bruise... and when it is your big toe? You feel it every step for weeks!

Oh and in case I forgot to tell you.. I am not the least bit savvy enough to install flooring myself.. Oh, not to say that I couldn't figure it out, but that's what boyfriends are for right?? Love you honey!

I am sure this has been some long reading so far, but since we haven't even gotten to the first year of ownership, I will leave the adventures of flooring for tomorrow... If I haven't bored you to tears so far, please drop back by tomorrow for more.

Daily Ponderings...

2010-09-09T08:59:00.000-05:00

Wow it has been a busy 2 months. On July 11, 2010 I was given the most wonderful grandson in the world. Caleb Thomas Wright... he is the absolute love of my life, without a doubt... He was born on 07/11. He weighed, 7 lbs 11 oz.

The real irony in this situation is that my daughter was working for 7/11 when she got pregnant with him and her room number at the hospital was 117... LOL Guess who has new lottery numbers! I love that picture... He is such a serious little guy... I call this one my thinking man.

They grow so absolutely fast, I had forgotten how fast. In two months, he has just amazed all of us.

He holds his head up so well and has nearly turned over twice. He is so alert and I love the giggles. He is just like his mother though.. Two months and already refusing formula so we are having to improvise. He is lactose intolerant (sorry kiddo), so milk is out. Even 2% messes his tummy up.

I was watching the Today show the other morning and came across something that I found interesting. Since Calebs eating habits are having to change, I saw Norah O'Donnell and her husband making baby food. My first thought was how ambitious this must be lol.... After watching her husband make one recipe in 15-20 minutes, making enough for a month, I thought I would give it a go. Apparently they put all these quick fix recipes in a book and I went to Barnes & Noble (LOVE that store) and bought it. Here is a screen shot of the cover if your interested.

Apparently you can freeze this in ice cube trays (interesting) and then package it in plastic and it will last up to 6 months. No chemicals, no junk, just good old fashioned, Grammy cooked food :-)

I will keep you apprised of how this goes...

On another note, I have finally picked my camera back up and started shooting again. I don't know why I quit but I have missed it. There is a wonderful website that an artist friend of mine turned me onto. It is where you can upload your artwork, any kind, and sell it. They will frame it or anything else you want done for a fee. I uploaded 100 pictures to start with. Most are works that I have done in the last few years on road trips. When I get a good scanner, I will work on the others I have done over the years. Here is a link to my work: Susan Ayers at Fine Art America

Please feel free to look through the pictures and let me know what you think.

I will update more regularly and let you know how the baby things are going...

Catching up... Daily Ponderables...

2010-07-22T09:06:00.001-05:00

Wow it has been awhile hasn't it?? Lots going on and has happened... New grandson! Welcome to the love of my life: Caleb Thomas...

My little thinking man...

The boyfriend won a trip to the Laguna Seca / MotoGP race in Monterey California.. Whew heww... the flights are gonna suck, terrible planning on their part, but the weather is supposed to be AWESOME.. daily high of 68? I could get used to earthquakes for that weather. Gonna check out the Monterey Aquarium, Fishermans Wharf, and having dinner at Bubba Gumps... Bike night on the Wharf, Saturday night should be cool...I will have lots of pictures when we get back so stay tuned...

Birthday Ponderings...

2010-06-02T18:16:00.000-05:00

Well here it is.. my 44th birthday. I am not "freaked out" about it though... My kids are grown and I have a great job. Things could always be worse.

I am having trouble adjusting to the fact that my baby girl is having a baby. Not so much that she is having a baby but that she is the around the same age I was when I had HER... it really has been a lifetime journey. I hope she has children that are as wonderful as she is.

I anticipate that the next year will be different. I have plenty of things on my list to accomplish before my 45th. I won't list them here. I don't want to jynx myself lol.. I had one thing on my list for my 43rd and I accomplished that. Today marks one year that I quit smoking. Yippee for me!

I am ok with how my life has turned out so far, but there are things left to do. Things to see, things to do, and things to experience.

Hopefully when we talk on my next birthday, I can mark off a few more things. Talk to you soon...

Daily ponderable

2010-04-22T10:02:00.002-05:00

I bought my home in April of 2007. As a new homeowner, I of course, did not have all the tools available for things like yard work and such. So I hired a company called Green Thumb Landscape out of Fort Worth to take care of everything for me, and they did really good work. I actually met them when they did the commercial work for the apartment complex I lived in prior to buying the house. In October of 2007, I cancelled their services for the Winter, obviously I won't be needing them full time and anything that does come up, I could handle by that time.

One day in November, I came home to find that they had stopped by and took care of my lawn. Work that I DID NOT authorize. It looked good and I was going to let it go that I didn't request this work, UNTIL I went to go into the backyard through the gate. That was when I noticed that they had managed to rip the gate off the hinges and had just leaned it back up against the fence before they left. I was angry beyond belief... No note, no phone call, NOTHING.

I called the office and spoke with the secretary and advised her of the problem. She assured me the crew supervisor would call me right back. That was November of 2007. I called repeatedly over the next six months and spoke with various individuals in the office with no luck. I even emailed the company "president" to no avail. After 6 months I had the gate fixed myself and just decided that, this battle I didn't pick and to let it ride. Then I got a bill in the mail. A BILL! A bill for services rendered, 32.87. REALLY????

It is on now....

Included with the bill is a postage paid envelope to mail the payment in. Every month I wrote on the bill and mailed it right back to them. I wouldn't hear from them for a month or so then another bill would arrive. Same story. Then one day I got a call from an attorney... really? You were retained on behalf of Green Thumb for a 32.87 bill? I let him have it... I absolutely unloaded on him about the gate, the unauthorized work, and the continuous billing for the unauthorized work??? OMGD, lol he stuttered and stammered and said that he would "check into this" and hung up. I didn't hear a thing for almost 6 months.

About a month ago I got another bill. It had been one of "THOSE" days and I had reached my limit. I logged onto the BBB (Better Business Bureau) and filed a complaint. I found that Green Thumb WAS NOT BBB associated but had other complaints filed and resolved via the BBB. Good... here goes.

I received a phone call yesterday from the BBB. A wonderfully nice young lady asking if I had received the email with the results of their investigation. I had not. She emailed it again and stayed on the line with me until I received it. WOW! Customer service at its finest. The result of their investigation was a letter from the owner of the company. Long story short: He claims this was the first he had heard of this problem and as a result in the downturned economy, he had let all his office staff go. He was happy to remove me from his books and assured that I would hear nothing more from them.

I can live with that. Sometimes it pays to be the squeaky wheel...

Daily Ponderable

2010-04-18T21:32:00.001-05:00

Well I haven't been keeping up with this as I should have and I apologize. The start of the season has definately been hectic but that is a good thing... People are buying and not just basic core maintenence product. LOL of course that includes me.. The pickup coil went out on the bike. The second time in three years.. Oh well, that's part of riding..

Rode a couple of times last week but it has been raining for days so that's out for now... April Showers....

Getting my financial house in order finally now that sales are back up. I am ripping out yucky "trees, shrubs, and retaining walls" that the previous owner put in. I thought I was going to have to leave some of them for privacy but it turns out my new neighbors want to put up a privacy fence between us... Yippee, that means all that shrubbery gets to go away.

Working on replacing the fence around the rest of the house but that is VERY expensive so it is going to be a few panels and posts at a time until I get it all done.. I will post some before and after pictures once I get started...

Lifes updates

2010-04-18T21:31:00.000-05:00

Well, it finally happened! I got to meet my wonderful son Ben! He surprised me last Friday. He was on his way back to San Antonio from Colorado and he stopped here and stayed the weekend..

He is such a wonderful young man and his adoptive parents did a great job raising him. We sat up late and talked, getting to know each other. I am so proud of him. He is smart, good looking, and outgoing.. I am sure they are extremely proud of him.

We went to lunch in Springtown with my mother and my daughter Heather..

He and Bill hit it off and I am so glad.. They even fixed my bike :-)

He headed home on Sunday and I missed him before he was even around the corner.. but that's ok... he will be back.

Thank you Ben, I love you.

Daily ramblings...

2010-01-20T12:16:00.001-06:00

Yep, I let the blog slide again... but now I am back.

There are a lot of things going on in the news. Everything from the earthquake in Haiti to voting in Mass. to replace Kennedy. You know, that was a nice thing to see. The people made their point I think. On the one year anniversary Obama, the people said enough. That really was comforting. I figure if the blue bloods of Boston are willing to show their displeasure with this government, why the hell can't everyone else? I hope that it opens the eyes of some of the "old school" politicians. I hope that they see that the people have the final say.

What scares me about this is to know that the Democratic defeat in Mass. of just one Senator can have such an effect on things. One person can make or break a bill. But that's a good thing. It just proves that one vote, one person can and does make a difference. Of course they don't have the Electoral College to contend with but....

That is something that needs to go away. Back when it was implemented, it was necessary and it has since served its purpose. It has now outlived its usefulness and does nothing more than lend credence to conspirator theorists about who "really" won...

Ok I am off my soapbox now lol... I know that Obama and the media claims that the recession is ending and that everything is headed back in the "right direction". I am not so sure about that. I still have dealers that are closing their doors. Dealers that employ people in small town America. Dealers, whom their employees and their customers have come to rely on. Dealers that have been in business for 20+ years, who are not able to maintain under the current economic conditions. How sad is that? What happens to them?

I know in theory that the customers and the business they were doing does not go away. It only shifts to another dealer, but some of these guys were the only game in town or the only dealer for MILES...

The Indy trade show is next month and that is usually the jumping off point for the season. For most dealers, if they can hang on through then, they will be ok. Others? One can only hope.

If your one of my dealers reading this? I have faith in you and I can assure you that I will help you any way that I can, help you with pricing, with ideas, or just to listen.

Daily ramblings

2010-01-08T08:57:00.001-06:00

I am beginning to feel like Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz... I don't think we are in Texas anymore Toto... Where did this weather come from??? 11 degrees.. really? Ughhhh... I am so ready for Spring.

I am ready to ride my motorcycle.

I am looking forward to the Indy show too this year for a change. Of course not going last year might have helped that lol.... Motorcycle show in Indianapolis in February? Who in their right mind thought that one up?

Oh well... Off to work I go!

New Year, new plan...

2010-01-02T20:00:00.000-06:00

Well here it is a new year and a new decade. Good riddance to the last decade.

Now is the time for new thoughts and new actions. I cannot decide exactly which path to take yet but I am most certainly taking a turn.

I did manage to quit smoking last year. One good thing... Now I just have to work on the weight that came with quitting. No, I am not one of those who makes a "resolution" to lose weight. I quit making resolutions New Years 2000. No, I am resolving to make some changes to my behaviour and activities. Doing that, the weight will take care of itself.

Other decisions aren't so easy and clear cut. Change careers or not? Move?

I have been playing with the idea of going back into law enforcement. Not as an officer but as a dispatcher. Part of me misses it. The pay was ok, the hours sucked, but you always felt like you made some kind of a difference. That is the part that I miss.

I love what I do now, the money is good, the hours are better, but, you don't make a difference. Not to anyone. I haven't felt like I have accomplished anything in a very long time and I think that is what is eating at me.

You know how you feel like your just wandering through your life? No objective? Not accomplishing anything? Yep, that's me. No worries though, I will decide what to do.

I have a whole NEW decade to work through it. Happy New Year..

Daily ramblings....

2009-12-30T07:53:00.000-06:00

Here comes another year and for once, I have a head start on what I hope to accomplish this year. Now I am not talking about resolutions. I gave those up years ago. No, I mean that eternal list of things that you never seem to get around to. Fixing this, buying that, selling this, or finding that... I got a head start when I decided I was giving up the retail jewelry making. The economy has caused business to all but stop anyway so...

I started destashing last weekend and wow, I didn't realize how much stuff I had! Bill and I sat there last night counting and packaging just a small collection of stuff and we didn't even make a dent it my stash.

I want to get into a hobby that not everyone can do. Woodworking has always been interesting. Not a cheap hobby, but at least not everyone has a talent for it nor is it something you can buy and do on the fly. Once I get rid of all this stuff I will keep you posted as to what I decide...

Holiday ramblings

2009-12-23T09:14:00.001-06:00

I sit here today thinking back. I am remembering things like the Sears Wish Book, road trips to Grandma's, and being a kid. Just being a kid. Nothing special or exact. Standing at the table listening to all the Aunts and Uncles talking about "things"... You know what I mean. Those things that don't make a bit of sense to a kid but, must be "really important" because the adults are always talking about them.

Riding your bicycle on a crisp morning. Playing in the yard, after dark, when the adults are sitting on the porch "talking". Oh wait, no one does that anymore so some of you might not be familiar with that concept.

Have you noticed that they don't build houses with front porches anymore? Why? Some have back porches, patios, or decks, but no front porches...

The Sears Wish Book. There is something else that has gone away. Oh they still send out a "Holiday Catalog" but I am referring to the toy only, kid only catalog. I am talking about cover to cover HEAVEN. We could entertain ourselves for hours with one of those. Imagining waking up Christmas morning to find everything we wanted under the tree... Of course by Christmas morning, we were so excited we quickly forgot about the catalog itself.

Trips to Grandma's. Now that is something that there is absolutely no replacement for. Funny how thinking about it brings back everything including the smells. It would be COLD outside and you would come in the door and you could smell the coffee in the kitchen. Or the propane heat. Of course the first thing you did was back up to the Dearborn. For those of you that have never experienced it, you have missed out. You back up to the heater, as close as you dare, for as long as you dare. Then you run over and find your spot to sit and instant warm chair... Of course if you got too close or too warm, you had more than a warm spot to sit lol...

Grandma lived in Brownwood and we were in other places but always met up with other family in Fort Worth for the trip. Now to get to Brownwood you travelled down Hwy 377 South for 125 miles. When you're a kid that seems like forever but you passed the time doing other things. Of course you knew how close you were by the landmarks that you would pass or the places you stopped for coffee along the way.

You passed the Pate Museum in Cresson. Unfortunately it is closing as of noon today. What a loss. They had cool airplanes, boats, and cars and it was FREE! Free? Yep, thanks to Mr. A.M. (Aggie) Pate, we had the luxury and privilege of seeing these great things for free. He passed in the late 90's and of course the large land holdings have been sold of little by little and the number of visitors had dwindled over the years. This is a real loss for people. I spent last Saturday out there taking pictures and will post some this next week.

We never seemed to make it past Granbury before we stopped at a roadside diner for coffee. Daddy always said it was because their coffee was too good to pass up. Of course, now that I am an adult and that diner is gone, I realize it is because someone forgot to go potty before we left lol....

After Granbury, you knew you were halfway to Grandma's when you saw the wolf. The wolf was the Wolf Nursery sign in Stephenville and it was huge. You knew you were halfway there and of course we usually made a stop at another diner in Stephenville. Good coffee you know.

Then you knew you were almost there, when you got to Gore Brothers in Comanche. Gore Brothers is a feed company right on the highway and inevitably Farmer Brown on his John Deere tractor was causing a traffic jam. LOL Traffic in Comanche? Three tractors and two pickups? Now Comanche was right up the road from Grandma's. It was the last big town before Brownwood and we were getting antsy...

Ahh there is Aunt Laveda's antique shop... Whew hew we are there... Hurry up daddy... Now in the real world, you still had about 20 minutes before you got there but.... Aunt Laveda's shop was in Early. Early Texas is a suburb of Brownwood. A suburb? Lord I never thought of it that way.. I never realized Brownwood was big enough to justify a suburb.

Oh and Laveda's Antique Shop really did belong to my Aunt Laveda. Damn I miss that place but that is memories for another day.

Ohhh there is Chicken on the Run. Now Chicken on the Run was around the corner from Grandma's. Oh and they served the best damn fried fish you ever ate. I don't know why the hell they named it Chicken on the Run but hey, it worked.

Oh there is Grandma on the porch, wiping her hands on her apron. Yeah, come to think of it, there is another tradition gone by the wayside, aprons. I will cover that tradition another time too. Yep she was waiting for us. I hope that next time I see her, she is waiting for us with her apron. I have one of her aprons, and yes, I wear it.

Merry Christmas Grandma.

Todays ramblings

2009-12-20T21:29:00.001-06:00

Well here it is, 9 years later. When daddy passed away, I could not imagine life without him. I still cannot figure out how I got to this point without him. Of course, and most people will think I am nuts, but, I talk to him everyday. It still hurts though. Why do people tell you that it gets easier with time? It doesn't . It hurts as bad today as it did 9 years ago. I still wake up crying. I wish I could handle it as well as my brother does.

I guess life goes on no matter what. Mine did. I did learn a few lessons from his death though. Life is too short to be unhappy or to do things that you don't want to. A new year is coming and a few changes are coming with it. I hope you approve daddy. Keep watching out for me, I can always use the help.

Todays ramblings...

2009-12-11T08:37:00.001-06:00

I am blessed. I have wonderful children. I am about to be a grandmother again. I have a great family. My brother and his girls are awesome. I got Christmas pictures of them. Beautiful.

Aren't they the prettiest things? Bailey and Kailey. My beautiful nieces. Merry Christmas girls. I love you.

Veterans Day thoughts

2009-11-11T11:25:00.001-06:00

Why is it that everyone says "Happy" Veterans Day? Happy? Hmmm makes you wonder about the thought behind it. I don't think of it so much as a happy day. The things those men and women went through are not happy things. I am sure they don't think back on them as happy times. I really think that it is more commercial than it should be too. Just another reason for a sale. That's wrong. If the post office and the bank can close up for the day, why the hell don't other people?

Just say "thank you". I am sure it is appreciated more than you can imagine. Thank you for putting yourself in harms way so that myself and others did not have to. Thank you for going, literally, to the ends of the earth to protect me and others from the evils of this world.

Just know that you are appreciated. I am sure, over time, there will be more "tragedies" such as Fort Hood. Yes, they are veterans now too. Even those who were just coming into the military that day. Please know that without the brave, there is no free.

Just a few thoughts for the day.

Daily Ponderings

2009-09-21T09:52:00.001-05:00

This Friday is an impromptu class reunion. I am from Boyd Texas. A map dot, but home. I never felt that way when I was young living there but I do now? Only to some degree though. Too many ghosts. Not skeletons, you can't have those in a small town. If you don't know what your doing right then, just ask someone. Everyone knows what everyone is doing in small town America.

This is the last graduating class out of our "old" high school, which is one reason for the get together. They are building a bigger new one that opens next year. My best friend Melody and I, had 5 kids between us. Four boys and one girl. Three of those boys are Melody's. Noel is her youngest and the youngest of our kids, he is part of that last graduating class. Why is this bothering me so much? It didn't even bother me that much when my kids left school.

I guess it means the end of an era and the start of another. I sure hope it is a good one for everyone. Congrats Noel. You have turned out to be one hell of a young man and I am proud of you. I am proud of all of you kids. I love you all.

Day 7 Yellowstone

2009-09-18T15:41:00.001-05:00

For those of you that are interested, here is a small file PDF map of inside Yellowstone to give you a better idea of where we were. http://www.nps.gov/carto/PDF/YELLmap2.pdf

I honestly did not realize that Yellowstone was that big. It was 106 miles from Cooke City to Old Faithful, one way. Now you cannot go to Yellowstone and not go to Old Faithful. We headed down from the NE gate and took a left at the Roosevelt Tower this time and came down the East side of the park. It is a beautiful drive down by Yellowstone Lake. Notice the sky and the water are the same color blue? Gorgeous I tell you!

The only problem? TRAFFIC... Yep, because that road between Norris and Madison was closed there was more traffic on the Eastside. Bumper to bumper for 30+ miles at 45 mph if you were lucky. I was amazed, I never thought I would see that many people in a national park at one time.

We got down to the area around Old Faithful and had to find a parking place. Luckily parking bikes is easier than a 4 wheel. We wandered down to the ranger station to see what time it was due to blow again and found we had an hour. We also found that we had cell service for the first time in two days lol... So I uploaded some trip notes and took a few pics with the phone and we found a spot in the shade to wait for the blow. Of course let me remind you that these features are sulfer based. Sulfer STINKS, rotten eggs galore, so some of the features were anything but pleasant. Pretty but YUCK! We got to see Old Faithful blow and I will admit it really didn't do a thing for me. It sure didn't look as fascinating in real life as it did on the National Geographic channel....

Of course once it blows everyone bails and I sure didn't want to sit in a traffic jam trying to get out of their so we headed out. We stopped at the mud pits on the way out and those were interesting to look at. Liquid rock... hard to imagine. Stinks like hell though lol...

We were coming back up through the East side of the park and once you cross Norris Road that leads to the East gate, traffic just disappears. No complaints about that. We rolled back up into Lamar Valley where the buffalo are. We got behind a SUV with three adults in it. No kids, just adults. They are slowly pacing an old bull as he walks along side the road. Now there is traffic coming at us and then they stop because they want to see the bull too. Now I love buffalo, I think they are the most majestic creatures on this planet but I would have pulled over at one of the many pull offs the signs tell you about. A little tongue in cheek sarcasm there sorry. I am watching them pace this bull and I can tell all this bull wants is to be left the hell alone so... hehehe I am awful. Now picture them less than two foot from this bull to their immediate right. Now my bike is not a quiet bike, I have loud Jardine pipes, so... hehehe. I pulled up right behind their bumper, less than two foot from this bull, pulled in the clutch, and racked the pipes twice :-)... Now the bull just ambled off to the right but the people in the SUV shot me some nasty looks, but traffic was moving again so.... lol.

Ah but it wasn't to last. We made it less than a mile down the road and everything just stopped. Both directions for as far as you could see was stopped. Now at this point I have killed the bike and we are sitting there and I look down the road for the cause. Now picture a HUGE old bull and he just ambled right out into the middle of the road. No problem. Everyone stops and waits, he will move right? hahaha NOT! Nope, he looks right, looks left, shrugs and lays down LMAO! Yep, lays down right smack in the middle of the road and nope, he ain't movin' for nobody... Now I am a country girl and I have dealt with livestock traffic before but watching these city folks get tweaked having to wait was hysterical. They even went and got a park ranger to come down and clear the bull out of the road. Can you imagine what that bull must have been thinking??? "Damn city people, always in a hurry. They are in my backyard and they can just wait" lol....

Of course the rangers I am sure get tired of dealing with the pettiness of people. I couldn't do it. My hats are off to those lucky few who get to work in the most pristine work environment ever created....

Well by this time I am just plain wore out and ready for dinner so we head out after the traffic jam. The speed limit in the park is 45 mph. Personally that is just fast enough. Anything faster and your missing the whole point of the ride anyway. Now having said that, traffic has thinned out and somehow we have picked up two bikes behind us. As we are rolling into Ice Box Canyon, I guess they thought we weren't going fast enough so they shagged ass up around us (in a no passing zone I might add) and headed up only to pass a white pick up in front of us. All the sudden you see them hit the brakes and slow WAY down. A few miles up the road as we got to the main gate, we discovered that they had just shagged ass around a park ranger... HAHAHA! Well they didn't get stopped (unfortunately) and I guess they were feeling really emboldend and goosed it coming out of the gate only to discover that traffic was stopped due to the repaving they are doing, all the way to Cooke City... LOL!

Now Bill and I come easing up just as the pilot truck turns around and I am slow racing just fine and managed nearly a mile at less than 5 mph without putting my feet down or stopping. Fat boy in front of us? Not so much... he and his twinkie friend on the other bike think they are cool with their Minnesota plates and matching Shoei helmets. We had to follow this goof all the way back to Cooke City, stop, go, stop, go. UGHH... Ok breathe, your on vacation, it's all good.

When we got to town, we pulled up at the Exxon to get gas and darned if they didn't too. Of course fat boy gets off his bike with an attitude and slings that Shoei off and stands, glaring towards us. Of course about that time, off comes my less expensive but much nicer Nolan N42 and oops, all my hair falls out of my helmet. That's when it dawns on him that he was just out ridden by a GIRL. The look on his face was priceless and Bill just nearly died laughing. Of course the filter between my brain and my mouth has never been very thick, I just had to make a comment about how this little ol' girl from Texas, that has only been riding for a couple of years, just out rode some middle aged poser from Minnesota. Oh and did it without breaking one traffic law. :-) He just nodded and walked away. I just smiled and headed for dinner.

Day 8 to come... Thanks for riding along guys!

Ride report Day 6

2009-09-18T10:55:00.003-05:00

Out of Hardin, MT we headed to Billings and then South to Cooke City, MT. To get to Cooke City you have to cross Beartooth Pass. Beartooth Pass, elevation 10,947 feet of AWESOME!!! Ok now that I got that out of my system lol.... If you have never ridden Beartooth Pass, I highly recommend it. So does Motorcycle Cruiser magazine: http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/rideanddest/motorcycle_riding_beartooth_pass/index.html

In August 1872, the pass was crossed by Civil War General Phillip Sheridan and 120 men returning from an inspection tour of Yellowstone. Rather than take the long detour down the Clarks Fork River to return to Billings, Sheridan took the advice of an old hunter named Greer, who claimed intimate knowledge of the Beartooth Mountains. When the road was opened in 1936, it essentially followed Sheridan's route over the pass.

I will admit there are no pictures from the Pass. See it is 67 miles of switchbacks and wandering roads BUT it was also under construction when we came through there. There was 18 miles of construction. Until we got through that, I was not stopping. When your riding along and the next sign you see says: "ROAD CONSTRUCTION AHEAD MOTORCYCLES USE EXTREME CAUTION". I tend to take those pretty seriously. I know that trees don't grow above 8000 feet due to lack of oxygen. I know that somewhere in the back of my head I knew that there would be ice up that high but it just didn't click. We had to stop and wait for the pilot truck and it was downright cold. Once we took off I nearly stopped and said no I wasn't going up that! We dropped off the pavement and my back tire sank into the gravel. The only thing I knew to do was 2nd gear, plant both feet firmly on the boards, scoot up to the tank, and put the brain in dirt bike mode.

Just as we are coming into the first good switchback in the gravel, I looked over and damned if there isn't a glacier. Yes the ice kind.... It was HUGE! I wanted a picture so bad, but at that moment I discovered that switchbacks, gravel, and motorcycles are scary as hell combined and thought better of stopping. The pilot truck takes you a little over halfway through it and then your on your own, two lane traffic, still on gravel but packed better.

Now I am from Texas as you all know and it doesn't get that cold down here. Of course I took a First Gear Kilimanjaro jacket, my leather shirt, and long finger gloves "just in case" (shameless plug).... Boy am I glad I did. We spent the next 5 days in that gear.

We came down off the mountain and ended up in the most wonderful town of Cooke City, MT. For those of you looking at your map, you will see that is right outside the NE gate of Yellowstone. The least used gate in all the park. It is closed during the winter as the annual snowfall average is around 500 inches a year. Yes that's hundreds. I could not picture that until I saw this: http://www.colorado-west.com/cooke/BD4.jpg

Cooke City has a summer population of 300. Yep that's all. They don't even have enough residents to fill all the summer jobs. There are numerous hotel / motels and places to eat and lots of jobs to fill. To combat this problem, the city and business owners contract with foreign exchange students on work visas to stay and work for the summer. It is really kind of neat because, lets say you eat breakfast at one place and their help is from Czechoslovakia, but the place across the street, their help is from Germany. They all speak English fairly well and it can get interesting when you have to explain the difference between medium and well done lol....

We got a room at the Alpine Motel. Nice little place and very biker friendly. We spent the evening exploring the gift shops, places to eat in town, and called it a night early so we could be up for the mountain morning sunrise. It was awesome just as I expected. We headed into the park after a light breakfast. The cool thing about going into Yellowstone is that you pay one price that covers 7 days and both parks, Yellowstone and Grand Teton.

See the ice? That is Beartooth Pass from below, a valley on the way down, and the last picture shows why they are called the Beartooth Mountains. See the peak? Looks like a Beartooth. Going into Yellowstone you pass through Ice Box Canyon. It comes by its name honestly, it was COLD coming through there. You rolled out of Ice Box Canyon and into Lamar Valley which rolls alongside of the Lamar River. Lamar Valley is where the animals are along with lots of fly fishing going on.

I don't understand people. There is signs all through the park that says use pull offs if your stopping, IE.. DON'T BLOCK THE ROADWAY! Ahh I guess no one reads those signs. Now please understand, I am on a air cooled motorcycle. That means not moving? No air. No air? Hot motorcycle. Hot motorcycle? Hot rider and not just from the heat. We are wearing long sleeve leather shirts and long finger gloves, most all day everyday, but that doesn't mean sitting still is comfortable.

The Northeast section of the park, as far as I am concerned, is the most beautiful part of the park. We spent the first day just driving the North end of the park. When you come in the NE gate, you travel along that road until you get to the Roosevelt Tower. This is where you can take the bus tours and gas up if you need. Gas stations are a long way in between so plan accordingly. We took a right and headed over towards Mammoth Hot Springs, which is really the only caldera feature on the North end.

You pass rivers and creeks that have the coldest, clearest water. You then roll down to Norris which is where the museum is along with places to eat, get gas, shop (their souvenier shop is NICE), and it is also where some of the employee housing is. A number of years ago I actually applied for jobs at the park just on a whim. Man, I wish I had gotten that job. They house you, feed you, on site medical clinic, and the most amazing work environment you can imagine.

The park is shaped like a long oval with one road bisecting the middle gates, East and West. Part of that road from Madison to Norris was closed so we took a left and headed back up towards the NE gate through Canyon Village and Dunraven Pass. I have to say, there just isn't an ugly place in this park. We headed back to Cooke City for the night. We will explore the South end tomorrow.

Ride report day 5 continued

2009-09-14T12:47:00.001-05:00

For those of you that are following this, thank you. I hope that I have not bored you to tears. Please drop me a line and let me know.

After Deadwood we headed for Little Bighorn. For those that have never been there, myself included, it was somewhat strange to be riding along, and you know your "nearly" there and your starting to watch for the signs to show you were to turn. There were none. We were rolling along and all the sudden, there is the driveway heading up the gate. We almost shot past it. I love history and Native American history has always fascinated me.

History has always been written by the winners and I know that there is always some exaggeration of the facts but I have never experienced complete omissions of information. History textbooks have always talked about the Battle of Little Bighorn as the complete destruction of Custer's men and that is what it was BUT... I was not aware that there were 3 battles that day. Three battles that started as much as 5 miles away and involved different generals and troops. The troops from the first two battles lived to tell about it but Custer did something that anybody would have told you was suicidal.

Do you remember playing king of the hill when you were a kid? You remember being the guy trying to get to the top? Well that was Custer. Here he is, faced with odds that would frighten even more experienced men, he tried to take the hill. He marched his men through a valley into the hands of death. Sad to say that most of it was because of arrogance. I have been to other battlefields and there is usually a feeling that you get when you stand there and play it over in your head. I never got that feeling here. I was surprised to learn also that Little Bighorn was a National Cemetery.

Somehow that fact had eluded me. What an honor it would be to be buried there. Of course it was overrun with tourists and after Deadwood and riding all day, I was beat and ready to call it done. Fair warning though. You are just outside of the Indian reservation and you have to ride to Hardin Montana to get a decent room. I will catch up day 6 in just a bit but here are some pics to enjoy while your waiting.

This is the valley that Custer lead his men through. I am looking from the Indian point of view off of Last Stand Hill.

This is the Indian Memorial that was placed here a few years back. Better late than never I guess. This is the outer artwork. Inside the memorial is a break down of the tribes and their dead. BTW? The Indians lost approximately 60 men to Custers 242.

Another fact? He isn't even buried here with his men. He was originally but when they disinterred the men and moved them all to the mass grave at the top of Last Stand Hill, his body was sent home to buried with his family.

Ride report day 5

2009-09-14T12:01:00.001-05:00

OK Frank I get it lol.... Sorry guys, it has been a while since I worked on the ride report. So I owe you a long one today ;-)

The fourth night we spent in Deadwood. Now for those of you that have never been up there, think tourist, western, and gambling all rolled into one. Now don't get me wrong, there is history here, obviously. I just hate seeing what such places turn into. I have no problems with gambling, hell the history of this town centers around gambling. I just hate the glitter and chrome that comes with it.

We found this one really cool saloon (freaking casino) that was part museum, part bar, all casino. I think I can let most of the pictures speak for themselves. The first picture though I thought was kind of cool. First thing we saw in Deadwood was the original spelling of the family name lol.... Now everything you see in these pictures are the actual vehicles, clothing from movies and TV shows. These are all thumbnails that you can enlarge so enjoy!

of course we all know Herbie the Love Bug..
I left this picture big on purpose. For those of you that remember the show Grizzly Adams, you know he was not a small man. This is his personal Iron Head Sportster. I can only imagine what that must have looked like..

Can you see what that third picture is? Yep, that is The Bandits autograph... Yes I loved that movie!

Yep, Magnum PI. Damn that was a sweet looking ride!

This picture pretty much sucked because this outfit was behind glass. For those that cannot read it, this is the military uniform Tom Hanks wore as Forrest Gump.

This is what I mean about history being overrun with glitter.

Oh my hero. Yes I loved John Wayne. Funny thing is, so does Bills mother and that was my excuse for taking all those pictures lol.. So here you go mom, just for you!

I laughed when I first saw these. Yep, those are "workin' girls". Of course they aren't real but you forget that is how things were "advertised" back then.

Well we are done with Deadwood and headed to Little Big Horn. I will continue this in a few.

Another rainy Monday.

2009-09-14T10:47:00.001-05:00

I think one of my co-workers put it best. It is starting to look like the second coming of Noah. Over a foot of rain in less than a week but that's ok. We needed it and hopefully it will wash this crap out of the air so my allergies will leave me alone. Of course I didn't win the lottery either, so it was back to work darn it.

I was watching the turn out in Washington DC for the "Tea Parties" and was somewhat surprised. I would have thought there would have been more people. Oh there was a bunch but I saw more people turn out for fireworks on the mall than turned out for the spending of "their" money.

There was a huge turnout in downtown Fort Worth on Saturday, even in the pouring rain. We were at Barnes and Noble and there were people everywhere headed to the convention center for the get together. The 912ftw group had put this together and I was impressed with the turn out despite the weather.

Oh and yes young brother, I was picking up my copies of Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged... I also got the only copy of Black Rednecks and White Liberals. Pretty good bedside reading so far. I think today I will work on the ride report... been slow going there. Business is slow but that's normal in September. The weather and the economy are killing this industry. Selling lots of basic core product, IE: tires, chemicals, spark plugs and such but very little bright and shiny stuff.

Well I will drop more later.

Daily Ponderings.

2009-09-11T10:06:00.001-05:00

I have a pet peeve. On second thought, I have several peeves but right now only 1 is got me torqued. I have internet and television through Charter Cable. Absolutely no complaints about the products. My complaint is their customer service. I called because of a question with my bill. The person who answered the phone had such a heavy accent I wasn't even sure I was talking to Charter. I asked to speak to someone without an accent that heavy. I was informed that if I wished to speak with someone else I would have to call back. They then just hung up. Ahhhh yep, it's on now!

So call back I did and I can assure you that I continued to call until I got an English speaking, stateside person. I then requested a supervisor. I was informed by this supervisor that there were many such complaints but that there was absolutely nothing she could do. What? Your a supervisor for a customer service division of a publicly traded company and you would rather have unhappy customers? Hmmm not very good business. I was told that the only way they could guarantee stateside customer service was to visit one of their many locations. Oh, in other words, instead of calling your toll free line, I should take my lunch hour or after work and fight traffic, spend my hard earned money on gas, and visit one of your locations. I will do that today to pay my bill. I can assure you I will be looking for another company to do business with in the future.

I will let you know how this goes.

Daily Ponderings.

2009-09-10T21:10:00.001-05:00

This has been one of those days where everything thing is running through your brain but yet you don't really give a lot thought to any one thing. I did decide that before too long I am going to reward myself. See I quit smoking a few months ago and I am proud that I kicked a 25+ year habit. So as a reward to me, I am going to buy myself a new digital camera. Now not the really nice (expensive) one, just something more than the 4 year old Kodak Easyshare that I have.

I miss taking pictures. Not the “we are all at the fair” type pictures. No I mean studies in architecture and landscape. My best friend Melody and I used to load all the gear up and just take off for an entire day, wandering the countryside for stuff that is off the beaten path. Old cemeteries were especially cool. Of course we were known to trespass into pastures for those old farmhouses and barns to photograph also lol. You meet the nicest people when you have a camera in your hand.

She and I were talking today and it has been a long time since we burned some film and it is about time we started again. I don't know when I will find what I want but when I do, I will have to avoid sale ads for a while. Buyers regret sucks. Best way to avoid it is to avoid sale ads.

Well tomorrow is Friday and thank goodness. Maybe I will have my thoughts laid out a little better tomorrow. See you then!

Daily Ponderings

2009-09-07T22:40:00.002-05:00

Well it is time for all the kids to head back off to school. I haven't had to deal with that in a few years and boy am I glad I don't. I saw a woman in the grocery store the other day, with 4 school age children. They were acting like kids do from time to time and she looked like the top of her head was going to blow off. Now I know it sounds mean BUT, all I could think was "neener, neener, neener, I don't have to deal with that" lol....

I know kids have moments that make you wanna scream and of course it is usually in public when they act out. I guess maybe I was lucky. My kids only did it once and I can assure you they did not want a repeat performance of mommy dragging their screaming little backsides out to the car for a come to Jesus meeting. According to my parents, my brother and I never did it either. Maybe it is because back then, we knew better. We knew that if Mom said your first AND your middle name, you were in trouble and not a little bit of trouble, ALOT of trouble.

My daddy had that look. You know that look, all daddies have them. That cutting their eyes at you, without blinking. That look that is telling your subconscious to shut the hell up, RIGHT NOW. Or maybe it was the daddy voice. Oh that one can still make me cringe and it doesn't even have to be MY daddy.. A few years back the boyfriend and I were at work and his son called about something, I don't even remember what it was. I just know that he used his "daddy voice", loudly. Now there are 20+ people in our office and probably 9 of us bailed out. We didn't even want to know what it was about but it must be bad if Bill is using the daddy voice. Scared the hell out of most of us lol...

Maybe parents these days just aren't stern enough. Now before you get any ideas, I am not advocating injuring children. I am talking about simple discipline. When we were growing up, if you got in trouble at school, you can bet you got in worse trouble at home. You knew your place. You DID NOT interrupt an adult speaking and you damn sure didn't answer with "whatever". Not if you didn't want to pick your butt up off the floor. You know come to think of it, I don't remember one instance of Columbine type violence either. I don't remember worrying about a deer rifle in someones truck. It would never have entered our collective thought to ever use it for anything but it's intended use.

I know that I don't have all the answers. I don't think any one person does, but I honestly think that we knew better. We knew better because our parents made sure we knew. I know that parents back then had to work just like they do today. We knew that June Cleaver was fiction but we also knew right from wrong and that all actions have consequences.

I actually heard some parents complaining about the amount of homework that their children are required to do. What?? Our education system is a mess, partly because of the disciplinary issues, and your complaining that your child might have to give up their play time to actually learn something? Our education system teaches to the test, not a curriculum anymore. They spend more time teaching for the TAKS and other tests that they aren't teaching beyond that. Damn I remember you worked your ass off for 5 weeks, you had two days of test prep, and then you had 6 weeks tests. Then you had semester tests. Now they want state tests on top of that twice a year. When exactly do they actually get to work, and your complaining that they have to?

As I said, I don't have all the answers but I do know that maybe it is time that some parents looked inside their home for the problem, instead of outside.

Well the holiday is over....

2009-09-07T21:40:00.003-05:00

and of course that means back to the office in the morning. How is it that long weekends are never long enough? Had a great afternoon visiting with my brother and his girlfriend. Got a few things done around the house but generally made it a no labor, labor day weekend.

I do appreciate the holiday. I am not sure that many people of the younger generation have a clue what it means though, much less how it came to be. Most of them forget that there was a time in the not too far distant past, that forty hour weeks were unheard of. If you didn't work seven days a week, you weren't working. Child labor, long, hard hours, dangerous conditions, for little pay were the norm. I was lucky enough to have been born into an old family and can remember the stories about picking cotton, following the crops, and doing without.

That era was when unions came to be and they were there to protect the worker. Contracts and laws were put into place to protect the worker and their families. Better than half of all workers, back then, were blue collar workers. Those hard working men and women built this country. They built it with their sweat and their tears and they did it all so that we, the younger generations, could have better. I am almost ashamed of what it has turned into. Greed and corruption have caused the unions to outlive their usefulness. Now before you come after me with a noose, hear me out.

I knew a man years ago that worked for General Dynamics aka Lockheed Martin. This man had no formal training past what he was given through work. He had no college education. He put a part in a machine, pressed a button, and took it out of the machine. All day. That is all he did. If the machine broke, he called someone to fix it. If they were changing the design of the part, someone came by and coded the machine as needed. Part in, push button, part out. Nothing more. In 1984, this man was earning nearly 30 dollars an hour. 25 years ago. That was for a straight 40 hour work week.

Of course Lockheed is a contractor of government parts and material, therefore deadlines were involved. If you wanted overtime? No problem. Time an a half of course. Oh, you don't mind working on labor day? We will pay you triple time to work a federal holiday. If your overtime falls on a Sunday, you get double time. 25 years ago, that man was making MONEY and a hell of a lot of it. Why is this relevant you ask?

All these "perks" were written into their contracts by the union. Sure it is fair that they get time and a half for overtime. That is federal labor law. That is something that all hourly workers are entitled to. It is the other completely outlandish perks that prove my point. People wonder why things made in the USA cost so much? It isn't quality like it was back in the day. It is union contracts. GM used to have a contract that stated when you retired, your insurance was paid, in full, just like when you were still working. Now I am not a mathematician by any means but any half brained moron knows that you cannot continue to do that forever. That isn't good business sense.

As a result of union contracts, most items are now priced ridiculously high. We complain that items made in the USA are overpriced and we can't afford to buy them. We buy cheap junk from overseas and if it breaks, oh well, we will just buy another cheap one to replace it with.

Back in the day, when our grandparents were working and these labor laws went into effect, they were still turning out quality products. I recently went into an old store in Cooke City Montana. The lady running the store had a 1948 Frigidaire refrigerator, still working, in the store. That item was made by Frigidaire, owned by none other than GM. Yeah you remember them right? Yep, pre-government motors. 1948. It not only worked, but she had not had one problem with it. That refrigerator is 3 years younger than my mother. She retired last year. The fridge didn't.

I own a Frigidaire refrigerator. I can assure you, that in 60 years, it will not still be running. 1948, metal with metal working parts. 2008, plastic. Need I say more.

Daily Ponderings

2009-09-03T15:47:00.004-05:00

Birthdays. No, not mine, my kids. Today is my son Johns 24th birthday and tomorrow is Heathers 22nd. It doesn't feel like it has been that long but I know it has been. Happy Birthday to both of you. I love you very much.

When my kids were born I did like every other mother. I promised to be the best mother I could be and to always love them no matter what. I hope that I have done that. I know that I have made some missteps and I know that you don't always understand why I did certain things, but know that what I did, I did with your best interest at heart. I hope that your lives are full and happy. LeAnn Womack did a song a number of years ago called, "I hope you dance" and I know Heather knows what it means. I do hope you dance. I hope that when you are given choices in this life, that you choose to live it on your terms. Not societies terms. Be true to yourself, ALWAYS. You will make mistakes through your life. We all do and that is how we learn, it is all part of growing up. Just be sure to live your life so that you have no regrets in the end.

I am proud of all my children. I love them all equally. Ben, John, and Heather. You have no idea how happy that makes me to be able to say that.

Ride report day 4

2009-09-03T09:15:00.009-05:00

Headed out of Custer with leather shirts and full finger gloves. It's a might chilly up here! We gassed up and just before we pulled out, I had to have a picture of a buffalo I found.

Isn't he the coolest thing?

Our first stop was the Crazy Horse Memorial. As we rounded the curve he came into sight. I cannot begin to describe to you with words, what a sight that is. To know that this was commissioned by the last known surviving Indians of Little Big Horn. That there is not one dime of US government funding or government oversight, I think is wonderful. Of course that is a dual edge sword. That means that the progress will be painfully slow. As it stands now and at this rate of progress, it will not be done in my lifetime and that saddens me. This memorial was another bucket list item and I can assure you, it was worth every mile and dime that I spent getting there. If you have never been, I HIGHLY recommend a visit.

With nothing but donations, this man and his family have turned this into the most amazing, living museum. He and his wife had 10 children, 8 of which now do the work of their father. He stated he had to have so many kids. All the boys were needed on the mountain and the girls at the off mountain jobs. This museum now houses possessions of Crazy Horse and his warriors. Other authentic works of art and every day traditional living are on display. There is a whole section that is nothing but studio. Studio for current artists that donate their works to the memorial. There is an on site restaurant that serves good food, and if you are lucky like I was, you can sit at the glass window overlooking the memorial while you eat.

Not the best picture but you get the idea. We were there on Monday the 17th of August and it turns out that if we had waited until Wednesday, we would have gotten to witness a blast on the site. As you can see in the picture above, the horses head is drawn on the mountain and ready for future blasting. What amazed me though is the fact that when he is done, Mt. Rushmore would fit in his hair! Now at this point I had not been to Rushmore so the analogy was initially lost on me. We spent hours in there and I could have stayed more but the road beckons and it was off to Mt. Rushmore.

Wow another great lead in. Your on the road, you come through the coolest little (and I stress little) tunnel and there it is. I will never be able to describe just how cool today has been. Not temperature, mentally. I am checking things off that bucket list FAST. It is exhilarating, fun, tiring, emotional, and stunning all in one.

We went into the park and I was pleased to learn that they have a parking garage. Of course once I thought about it, it made sense considering the number of tourists that go through there on any given day. I was somewhat disappointed though. For some reason after a lifetime of seeing it on television and in books, I somehow thought it would be "more"? I mean you walk into the front and you pass somewhere to eat and the gift shop. You walk past the to memorial markers to the workers and all the flags and your there. Your looking at it and that is just about it? It is a testimony to the greatness of men who have long since gone and I just somehow expected more. It isn't the same feeling I got at Crazy Horse. Maybe it is because there has been so much to do about Mt. Rushmore as opposed to Crazy Horse, but do you realize the size difference?

While we were out on our travels that day we went through Custer State Park. That is a beautiful state park. The sparsity of the trees in one area and the over abundance in others is a nice contrast. We saw a bunch of pronghorn deer and ran across a herd of wild jackasses. They of course are used to being fed by the public, which is something I hate to see, but no I did not feed them. They were all jennies with young except for one. She hadn't dropped hers yet and they were so sweet. She is the one in the picture below. There was also a young one that was precious.

Once we got into the park, I had been watching for buffalo and had only seen one so far. Seeing a herd of buffalo, in the wild, was also on my bucket list. I have seen them in pastures, on television, and at zoo's, but I wanted to see a herd. A real herd. The kind of herd that sustained a people before white folks got greedy and damn near wiped them out. As we drove away from the jackasses we rounded the curve and there it was. Not just one or two. There were hundreds. HUNDREDS! I have to admit that at that point, I started to cry. I knew that what I was seeing was something that the majority of people will never see. Something that thanks to dedicated people, I got to see up close. Mamas with babies, pretty babies...

The further we went, the more we saw. Thank you to whomever the thanks is owed. It was everything I had hoped it would be and more. We headed up to Deadwood and got there just after the rain had rolled through. Boy, it sure was COLD for us Texans that aren't used to that ;-) Well, I will post more tomorrow.

Christmas? Already??

2009-09-02T13:11:00.006-05:00

I got my newest Avon catalog today. WTF??? Christmas? Really? Already?

That's it. I refuse. School has just started as has football season and they are advertising Christmas?? Nope, not gonna do it.

Now those of you that know me, know that I do not get all giddy about Christmas. It isn't that I dislike Christmas, far from it as a matter of fact. I just resent the commercialism that surrounds it. I resent the fact that for approximately 360 days a year, some people are anything but a joy to be around. Yet the week of Christmas they suddenly develop those familial feelings that they don't have any other time of year. They suddenly feel all charitable to those less fortunate when all year long they will cross a street to avoid a homeless person.

I remember being a kid and right around Thanksgiving, the Sears Wish Book would arrive. Oh man! Your parents would hand it to you along with a pencil and tell you to mark only those presents you REALLY want. Presents you REALLY want?? Uh hmm This is a book of toys. Oh my, sensory overload! Of course my parents really did not use it as a guideline as to what I wanted. Sure I gave out millions of hints about that Schwinn 3 speed complete with banana seat. Oh and there was the “portable” record player. Oh man that thing was COOL!

No I don't hate the holidays. I just hate what they have turned into. A number of years ago, a doll came out that, I swear, made everyone lose their minds. Number one, this doll was ugly. This doll and the millions like it where touted as your very own baby... You could even find one to look like your precious little Jane or Johnny. All the kids wanted them. Including my precious daughter. I tried everything to talk her out of that doll but she would have none of it. That was the ONLY thing on her list that year. No pressure though mom, Santa will come through. He always does. ARGGGGGHHHH!

So mom (Santa) did the only thing she could do. She stood in line for hours along with other crazy parents and grandparents at the local Wal-Mart. When they released them, OMGD, I managed to get one in my hands just as they ran out. I was home free, no worries, Santa came through! I turned to leave and I was amazed. Standing before me was another mother. She literally reached out and attempted to grab it out of my hands. So help me, I almost reached out and “touched” her, but I resisted the urge. She was screaming. Screaming!?! “Oh my God! I have to have that! My daughters Christmas will be ruined if I don't get her one. Please, I am begging you?”.

Something just turned off inside. I looked at her and asked her one question. “Your child's Christmas will be ruined if she doesn't get this doll. So if your child will be ruined for lacking this toy, who's fault is that?” At that point I literally threw it at her, and hit her in the face with it. No, I am not ashamed that I did that. I walked out of Wal-Mart and went home.

For the next couple of weeks, I spoke with my kids numerous times about the joys of Christmas and what it REALLY meant. I was surprised when my daughter asked me the make sure that Santa didn't go out of his way to bring her that doll that she would rather go get an angel off the tree and help some other child in need. I could not have been prouder of my children than I was at that moment.

So the rule is, I will not discuss presents, plans, wants, or needs until Thanksgiving. Once Thanksgiving is done, then let the season begin, BUT NOT UNTIL THEN!

I know that sounds cold and I suppose to some it is, but isn't the season more about what you give than what you receive? Isn't it about hearing squealing kids on Christmas morning when they open their gifts? Or about that feeling you get when you sit across from your family over Christmas dinner? All of them in one place at one time?

I am sure that a lot of people will disagree with me and that's fine. Just know this: I will not discuss this with anyone until after Thanksgiving. Maybe you will have forgotten by then or be so wrapped up with the stresses of finding that perfect gift that you will just agree to disagree.

P.S. If you are the mother in question, reading this blog? I still don't feel bad about hitting you with that damn doll. I just hope that your children learned to appreciate the season for what it should be.

Daily Ponderings

2009-09-02T08:58:00.003-05:00

There is a lot of talk floating around about Texas seceding from the United States. There are a few people who are making that a issue of their campaigns for the governor of Texas. Now correct me if I am wrong, BUT, if your voted in as governor and Texas does secede, doesn't that automatically make you President of Texas? How would they work that? Is there anyone running that I would want as President? There is a lot of things that would change if it were to happen.

I know I for one would like to see the taxation be done a little different. Instead of all these varying percentages based on tons of rules and regs, I would like to see a flat percentage. No loopholes, no deductions, I would also say that once your 65, no taxes on your social security. Oh wait, you won't be able to draw that. That is federal, through the US government. I am sure that something would be worked out since so much has been paid into it prior to secession.

Of course sales tax such that it is would have to remain since so many cities and counties rely on that for maintenance of their infrastructure. I know it sucks but taxes are one of those necessary evils of this life.

I would like to see something done about illegal immigration. Now don't get me wrong, I know there are a lot of people that live here LEGALLY. Please remember I am only referring to those that are here ILLEGALLY. Take them back across the border and then put actual law enforcement down there patrolling the border. Since we have our own electrical grid, run a hot fence through there. That will put a stop to it.

Oh there are tons of things to be considered and worked out before Texas could make a move like that. Or, let me rephrase that, there are lots of issues that SHOULD be considered prior to that move. If you just knee jerk secede without working out the details, then it would destined to fail. Just like all those years ago.. You remember the civil war? That is what it was started over. The states rights to self govern, not slavery. Of course in the end, slavery was what it was made out to be about, but as you know, history is written by the winners.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Gonna try something different..

2009-09-02T08:53:00.004-05:00

I have decided that every day I will post something that is floating around in my mind. It will always be titled Daily Pondering and who knows what it will contain. I will continue to post other items like the ride reports and such but the daily will be just the ponderables of life.

Ride report day three

2009-09-01T11:53:00.004-05:00

Left Alliance NE enroute to Custer NE. Hwy 87 to Hwy 20 and stopped in Rushville for breakfast.

A little bit of useless trivial history for you about Rushville. This is where Louis and Clark discovered prairie dogs. According to notes on the issue, they attempted everything they knew to do to flush the little guy out of his burrow. They even attempted to dig him out. After 6 feet of digging they discovered they were no where near the bottom and gave up on that idea. They finally managed to flush one out LITERALLY. 5 barrels of water and the poor little guy didn't have much choice but come out. End of history lesson ;-)

After Rushville, we headed up through the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Wow, that was depressing. Now don't get me wrong, I can empathize and I can more than understand their refusal to take the money for the mountains. I would fight like hell too, but it damn sure doesn't cost anything to pick up the trash and make things presentable. Bill is a very dark skinned man with LONG dark hair. Yes he appears Indian. We were attracting a great deal of attention and it was very uncomfortable. We stopped for gas and got the hell out and headed out to Hot Springs, SD.

Hot Springs is a gorgeous little touristy town. Lots of history, wonderful old buildings, and friendly people. We rode through and headed up to Custer. Lots of "bikers" lol... yuppies and posers galore! Neat town none the less though. We stayed the night and got there just as the rain hit. It was a lot cooler there than it was in Texas when we left..

Getting older..

2009-08-30T21:43:00.003-05:00

Have you ever heard a song or a name and get this very strange sensation that you have stepped back in time? Maybe to the first time you heard the song.. Or maybe just to the way things used to be? It hasn't happened very often but when it does...

I swore years ago that I would never give up my Internet connection. Not because I am addicted to it.. OK maybe I am but that's not why :-) I am sitting here staring at the facebook screen. I just added two people to my friends list that I can honestly say I have not seen in 30 years. You remember making those promises of being friends forever? Always promising to keep in touch?

Well I owe some apologies. I made those promises years ago and then I let life get in the way. We all do it. Not intentionally mind you, but we do it none the less. We all say that we wouldn't repeat our teenage years for anything. I would. Actually I would go back just a bit farther. I would go back to about 10. Back before parental divorces, hurt feelings, and broken hearts. Back before growing up got to be so damn important. Back when we were still just naive enough that we thought we could do anything. We weren't afraid of anything except parental punishment.

Well growing up hasn't always lived up to our young, naive visions. Not to say that it has been bad, far from it, but I have yet to conquer the world. I heard a saying the other day that is so true:

You don't quit playing because you grow old. You grow old because you quit playing.

I can attest to that fact. I am hoping to find out if you can restart that time machine. More tomorrow. I will get caught up on the ride report tomorrow night. Good night for now.

Back to the real world..

2009-08-27T10:04:00.007-05:00

Yep the vacation is over and it is time to go back to the real world. I had 13 days to ponder life and explore the country.

For those who are new to this blog, I ride a Yamaha V-Star 650 and the boyfriend rides the Harley Road King. Every year we take two weeks and we go. We have gone to Washington DC and down the Blue Ridge Parkway to North Carolina and across back to Texas.. We have gone straight through to North Carolina and back through Tennessee, Kentucky, and Arkansas. I guess it is quite obvious that we like to travel. This year was the longest ride we have taken. This is my ride report. Links with pictures will be provided. Feel free to pull up something to drink, put your feet up, and vicariously ride along with us!

We started out at 5:30 AM on the 13th from here in Fort Worth. Now just to let you know, I hate riding / driving in the dark. My night vision sucks to say the least. I am a third generation Texan and I am very proud of that BUT... I HATE HOT WEATHER and Texas has ALOT of hot weather. Now I don't mean the kind that there is some air moving and it is low 90's or high 80's. No, I mean the 100+ degrees and the only air moving is the wind that you generate. On a motorcycle, it is like riding in a blast furnace. Riding in the heat just saps any energy I thought I had, so riding in the dark was somewhat pleasant in the fact that it was cooler.

We headed up Hwy 287N towards Wichita Falls. Somewhere around Bowie the sun was up and the temperatures were already starting their climb. We stopped in Electra for gas and breakfast. Electra was named after the daughter of famed rancher W.T. Waggoner. There is also a historic home in Fort Worth called Thistle Hill, built by Mr. Waggoner, for his daughter Electra's wedding present. Electra, these days, is a spot in the road compared to its history. It used to be a booming place but it is now just a throwback to the days of old. It has a FULL SERVICE gas station. For those of you who are too young to remember those, that is where an employee of the station comes out and fills your tank for you AND he checks your oil, air pressure in your tires, and washes your windshield for you while your tank is filling. Yes, it is a few cents higher than self serve but, I can assure you it is worth every penny.

We headed onto Wichita Falls and the temps weren't bad. I hadn't been through there in years and the last time I was, the major arteries through town were under construction. I made Bill lead through town so I didn't get off course and we were through there in record time. Just to let you know, I usually lead when we are on the road. I set the speed as I am on a smaller bike and I can hold a speed (Love you honey!) We stayed on 287 until we got to Childress. Now luckily we were running into some overcast skies which helped to keep the heat down.

From Childress we picked up Hwy 83N, headed for Canadian Texas. If that name rings a bell, think grass fires. A few years back Texas was in one of the worst droughts in its history and the area around Canadian was literally burning up. My brother and a crew from his fire station in Hurst were sent to Canadian to assist with the wildfires. While there, a very nice lady loaned them the use of her house. She packed a bag, handed them the keys, and only asked that it be left as clean as they found it. It turns out the house used to be a brothel and had some very interesting history. Canadians population is 1800+ people. That's it, but there is some serious mailbox money going around up there. New cars, houses, places to shop and more natural gas wells than I have ever seen. There were wells, compressions stations, and switch stations almost every 5 acres. Unbelievable. Of course if your going to eat lunch in a small town, there is no better place than Dairy Queen.

Being the first couple of days, we decided to put down as many miles that we could comfortably handle. That means we were going to put down 500+ miles each day for the first two days. 490+ miles later and we put down for the first night in Garden City Kansas. It really wasn't that far from the state line to Garden City but lord have mercy that was the most boring riding I think I have ever experienced. It is bad enough that your dog tired but you roll into an area that has absolutely no features. No hills, trees, damn few houses, and to top it off, it is now HOT. Did I mention that I hate the heat???

The next morning we headed out again. We headed further North on Hwy 83 to Thedford Nebraska. From there we took a left and headed West on Hwy 2 on our way to Alliance NE. Now let me clarify something things. Most maps will not include towns that do not have post offices and being from Texas I know that sometimes it can be a long stretch of lonesome between towns. Now having said that, Nebraska was a shock! Not only is it a long stretch of lonesome between towns, they put every wanna be town on the map. Even those that don't have anything more than 4 houses. I am serious. Four houses. No church, no stores, no post office, NOTHING!

The problem with that is this: Motorcycles require gas. Towns have gas stations, right? If it is on the map it is a town, right? WRONG! Thedford to Mullen was 29 miles. No big deal. Mullen is on the map and therefore a town, ie.. a gas station. We got to Mullen, 4 houses and a gift shop. A GIFT SHOP... No gas station. No church. No school. Not even a cross street. We were ok on gas so we decided to push on to Whitman, another 37 miles. Whitman was the same as Mullen. NOTHING! Hyannis, Ashby, Bingham, and Ellsworth. All the same. NOTHING. Now I know that my motorcycle will go 190.2 and no farther. The Road King, you really are pushing it at 140. Now at Ellsworth we were really cutting it close. Some people in Ellsworth said the next town up, Lakeside about 7 miles, would be our best bet. Meanwhile Mother Nature is starting to show herself and you see storms in the distance, but we have time, right? The guy at the local gift store (yeah they had one too) makes the comment: "don't let that tornado get ya!"

We pull out and head West to Lakeside. We are at best 3 miles down the road and I look up to see black clouds. Not stormy blue. Black. Black churning clouds. Now the speed limit in NE is 70 mph. It is also a helmet state. Bill has on a skid lid half helmet and I have on the Nolan N42 three quarters helmet with a shield. I am watching these clouds just churn and it has gotten DARK.

We are running 70 mph and all of the sudden the leading winds hit. When the front line of winds hit they cause a down force and let me tell you how bad that can be. That wind hit out of the Southwest at 60+ mph. Bill was leading and I saw him and the bike lean HARD and he was gone. It blew him completely off the pavement, past the emergency shoulder, and out into the grass. Now the bike, Bill, and all the luggage weigh in at more than 1000 lbs. The bike alone is 863 lbs. He managed to keep it upright but the wind was making it nearly impossible to get back up on the pavement. Meanwhile, when the wind hit us, it got up under my helmet. The wind was literally lifting me up off the bike via the helmet. At one point I was standing on the floor boards and hanging on. There was no steering as there was no leverage. The wind was pushing me directly towards Bill. I was screaming but hanging on but I knew if I hit him, neither one of us was gonna make it home, not alive anyway.

I know it only lasted a couple of seconds but it felt like a lifetime. Luckily the wind just stopped, as fast as it started it quit. At this point I have the throttle wide open just from hanging on. It shot me past Bill within a couple of feet. The wind was so loud that my ears were ringing and I couldn't hear a thing. I saw the driveway for an old diner and made for it. It turns out this was the town of Lakeside. A closed up diner and three houses. Great.

Now I used to be a police officer and I have had guns pointed at me. I do not ever remember being as scared of that as I was after that wind. I was damn near hyperventilating. The wind was picking up again and I was trying to get off the bike. It was blowing hard again and it just knocked me off my feet. I was literally holding onto the pole on the porch of this diner just to keep upright. Bill managed to back the bikes around to the East side of this diner out of the worst of the wind. We got our rain gear out and damned if just as we got it on? The rain quit. I didn't care. The wind quit too and I just wanted to get to a hotel. We rode the few miles up the road to Alliance NE and called it a day.

Well that concludes day two. I will post more later. Meanwhile you can enjoy the scenery from the trip. Here are the links:

http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd240/ayerssm/Road%20Trip%202009/

http://s221.photobucket.com/albums/dd240/ayerssm/Road%20trip%202009%20second/

Justice?

2009-08-12T08:37:00.003-05:00

Last week, I happened across an article about a teenager who won a large sum of money in a lawsuit. The lawsuit was against the two convenience store clerks who sold him alcohol, even though he is underage. Apparently he bought the alcohol, drank it, and then drove a vehicle and ended up having a horrific accident that left him paralyzed.

Now I realize that according to Texas law the clerks are criminally liable. I understand that the young man is now paralyzed BUT, ultimate responsibility lies with him, not the clerks. They may have sold it to him but it was his decision to drive drunk.

What happened to personal responsibility? My father taught me that should I do something that ends with consequinces, that I am the one who has to pay the piper. Should these clerks have been fired and/or charged criminally? Yes. But civilly sued? Come on people. You can't look at someone sideways without being sued by someone.

It is early in the day and I am sure there will be more. Gonna be a long day I think.

Ahhh here comes the vacation!

2009-08-10T21:21:00.003-05:00

I have known this vacation was coming for a while but I just couldn't get excited about it. Until today that is. I love my job. I really do. I am one of the lucky people in this world who truly does enjoy what I do. But, some days just test your character. I took the high road, tough as it was. I refuse to give in to this unbelievable desire to remind people how childish and immature they are (just think cubicle life and you will understand). OK, enough of that...

I love to travel. I love to ride my motorcycle. Long distances don't bother me. As a matter of fact, sometimes, the further the better. This trip will be about 3500 miles before we are done. Mountains and Big Sky Country here I come. Forgive me if I don't get excited about coming home :-) Yes I love my job but WOW! I tell you, I am the easiest woman in the world to please. Mountains covered in trees and rivers.. oh and no people.. Did I forget that part? Maybe that's the hard part.

I have this REALLY long bucket list as I have stated before. I am marking them off pretty quick these days. I have made it my goal to ride every state before I leave this life. So far I can count off 12, that I have been through on a motorcycle. Not that many but not bad considering I have done those in three years.

The best ride? The Blue Ridge Parkway. I have loved a lot of places but that whole roadway it amazing. I had read about it. I had seen it on tv. Neither one did it justice. The speed limit on the entire ridge is 45 mph. If you doing that, your missing the entire point of the trip. If your in a cage, roll down the windows and turn off that damn radio. Talk to each other. Or better yet? LISTEN! To each other, to nature, to everything and nothing. Oh and if your on a bike??? LEAVE THE RADIO OFF.... You will never see wild life if they here you coming! (sorry pet peeve of mine)

These are only a couple of the amazing sights to behold. Oh did I mention that they are in the mountains surrounded by trees? Yes, I was a happy woman! Mother Nature reminds you why the world is such a beautiful place. I know there are other beautiful places and I hope to see them all one day. But for now, that drive, from Front Royal Virginia to Cherokee North Carolina, is by far the most amazing drive you will ever have the privilege of making.

And it is a privilege. If you don't take care of it, you won't have it to enjoy. So keep your trash to yourself... We all only have one body and one go around in this life. Well, we only have one planet and if you don't take care of it, you can't expect it to take care of you. OK, that was my tree hugging rant..

Happy riding to all and be safe! I will post more before I leave but, the best I am sure, will be after the trip...

A political rant!

2009-08-03T20:52:00.004-05:00

For those of you that know me, you know that I will get on that soap box from time to time. Today it looks like it is going to be that day.

How many of you know what HR45 is? I do and it scares the hell out of me. Have a look:

http://gunowners.org/hr45ana.htm

Yes you read that right... Gunowners.org.. Yes I am from Texas and yes I own guns.. PLURAL! As a former police officer, I am proud to say that I am extremely proficient with them. Yes I believe that there are those people out there that should not have guns. I also believe certain people shouldn't be allowed to breed either, but that is another story.

I am sure you know that I am not a fan of our current president but, as I did not vote I cannot bitch. Oh wait, yes I can.. See we still have this thing called the electoral college... sounds like a bunch of smart folks doesn't it? Well as a result of the smart folks at the college, no one will ever really know who the popular vote really was... See they don't vote popular vote and therefore we are stuck with who THEY picked... Oh well, that is another soap box for another day. Back to the issue at hand now.

Folks, if you have guns, you should be very scared of this bill. Read it and think about the consequences of passing that legislation. Drop me a line and let me know what you think . There are other websites out there that can give you a very clear picture of what life in the good ol' US of A will be if that passes.

I am curious to know something though. How after looking at previous presidencies, that this one man has moved more into congress and legislation in less than one year, than some presidents can get passed in their entire term. Makes you wonder doesn't it??

Rain Rain...

2009-07-28T13:14:00.005-05:00

Have you ever noticed that when it starts to rain, during the heat of the summer, that life just seems to slow down a bit? I don't mean the idiots behind the wheel... they only get worse. No, I mean that you step outside and just kind of relax? Maybe I am the only one that does lol.. The smell of rain on hot pavement is nice.

Spent the weekend working. Not the relaxing work at home work. No, this was spent with 200+ of my favorite co-workers and dozens of vendors. I had to come back to work to get some rest. The one consolation is that we don't have to do that again for another year. Don't get me wrong. Seeing the new products and vendors is always good. I like to sell and seem to be pretty good at it but you can't sell what you don't have or don't know about. I got to see Malcolm Smith again this year. For those of you that are not familiar with that name; Malcolm is an icon. The powersports industry would not be what it is without Malcolm. MSR is Malcolm Smith Racing.

I have decided I want a dual sport bike to add to my collection. I have been keeping up with the Go Big Ride (facebook or google) and they look like they are having a REALLY good time. That is what "being off the beaten path" is all about. We get off the main artery of highway when we travel but they get off the pavement. PERIOD. I know a few roads I have seen that looked like a lot of fun but you didn't dare take the cruiser down them. Maybe I am getting like Benjamin Button, getting younger by the year? That would be cool. If you haven't seen the movie, I won't spoil it for you. Good movie, but not as good as "The Bucket List".

I think that is what started all this. My daddy had a bucket list. He never got to finish his. I don't want to end up like that. I started a year or so ago, marking things off of mine. I learned to ride a motorcycle. I traveled to Japan. I traveled across country on a motorcycle. I rode the Blue Ridge Parkway. I won't name them all. I have a really long list.

Last year, I got to mark off the number one slot. See, in 1984 I had a son. I was not in a position to raise him so I gave him up for adoption. Something I have never regretted.

Last October, Ben found me. I have been so blessed. I bring this up, because today is Ben's birthday and for the first time in 25 years, I personally got to wish my son Happy Birthday. Thank you Ben. You have filled that hole in my soul and I can honestly say that I am happy.

Ok that's all for now. I guess I should get a few things done today. Check back this evening and I am sure that I will have more for you...

Sunday again...

2009-07-19T21:28:00.004-05:00

Well here it is, another Sunday and I am still not ready to go back to work tomorrow. Weekends are never long enough, yet when they are, I still don't wanna go... This week starts our annual sales meeting. That's fun. You get to see the other reps and catch up. Of course being downtown Fort Worth, it is nice and close to home... No discomfort on my part. Except having to be at the breakfasts at 6:45 AM. Who eats at that hour? Yuck.. Oh well, the coffee should be good lol..

Temps have finally stayed below 100 during the day... We even got rain today... still need alot more. Was driving around downtown yesterday and crossed the Trinity River in a few places. Wow! I cannot remember seeing the river that low... I mean it is only puddles in some spots. Scary to see what we have done to the waterways of this country.. All in the name of progress. I personally don't see that it was worth it. I mean, YEARS ago, you could boat the Trinity.. Hell now I can walk it... I remember when I was a kid there was water in the creek beds you crossed. Very rarely were they dry. Now? Most are dry and your surprised when you see water... When I was little, my Uncle Pat and family would come down from Oklahoma. Of course when they went home, at least half the time, I tagged along.

Now to get to where they lived, you went right up 81/287 and across the Red River. Uncle Pat used to challenge me that I couldn't hold my breathe all the way across the bridge. LOL Of course when your 10? That bridge seemed to last forever, but I did it and boy was I proud. Funny thing is, we did this EVERY time we crossed.. By the time I outgrew that challenge, he nearly had to stop on the bridge for me not to be able to lol... I miss those days. I miss being a kid.

I miss the people of my youth more than anything I think. I miss living down the street from my grandma and aunts. I miss the family caravan to grandpa's on Thanksgiving. I guess that's all part of growing up. I can only assume that most people feel the same. I heard a saying a while back that is very true...

You don't quit playing because you grow old. You grow old because you quit playing.

LOL I think I resemble that remark. I would like to think that since my kids are grown that maybe I can start my second childhood now. I keep trying but the real world keeps getting in the way. Work and bills. Bills and work.. Cross your fingers that if all goes right, (ie.. no emergency expenses), the annual 2 week bike trip is planned and ready to go. The tires for the bikes are bought and will get put on in two weeks.

From Fort Worth all the way to Sturgis, SD. And no, not for the "Sturgis" rally. I want to see the sights without the 10 million motorcyclists in the picture. We will go from Sturgis over to Wounded Knee and Custer Park with everything in between. I plan on burning ALOT of film this time around. Quite a bit digital too. Then we take a left and head South through Yosemite and Grand Teton. Down through Colorado and onto home. Did you know there are very few KOA camps anymore? For some reason that surprised me. We will stay a few of those or camps the Parks.

Well more tomorrow..

TGIF...

2009-07-17T10:56:00.005-05:00

Have you ever noticed, we say that all the time. TGIF.. We are so glad to be away from the everyday grind of work. But have you ever noticed that when a holiday rolls around we complain that it seems like it was just the other day that it was Christmas or something to that effect? I truly believe that life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer to the end the faster it seems to go?

My mother retired last year. In all honesty I think her generation is going to be last that can do that at a decent enough age that they can still enjoy a life before they die. It is sad to say but I look down the road and what I see isn't good. I don't want to have to work until I am 75 years old. Hell I don't want to work until I am 65. I make a good living and I pay my bills. I have tried to save up some money for later in life. I know that social security will be just a memory by the time I retire.

Back when the gold standard was in place, there were times when the economy got rough, but you damn sure weren't printing more money than you could back with gold. Now we have a president who is just throwing good money after bad. Need more? Just print more. It is almost to the point where the paper it is printed on is worth more than the denomination.

Did I miss something in accounting 101? Pay as you go... That is how you do it. If you pay as you go, you don't get overextended. What happens when something is overextended? The definition is:

verb (used with object)
1. to extend, reach, or expand beyond a proper, safe, or reasonable point: a company that overextended its credit to diversify.
2. to extend for too long a time: to overextend a stay.
3. to obligate (oneself) to more activities, work, etc., than one has time for or can accomplish well.

Hmmm, you mean overextending is what usually happens prior to FAILURE? So the way I see it, we have overextended our nations finances and therefore are subject to failure. I know I am not the only person who understands this situation. So if I, Jane Q Citizen, who does not have a economic PHD, understands this, why don't they? They being the government officials in charge of the bank?

Our government consists of a group of people, that we pick every few years. If that is the case, why do we still have the electoral college? Or why is it that money speaks louder than 350 million dissenting voices? Because, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."... Lord Action (1834-1902)..

When you give that kind of power to a group of people who, by and large, have money and are backed by people with more money, then you have a HUGE problem. You end up with a top heavy government that benefits a select few. Not the larger group which consists of the average ordinary Joe who toils aways his days making his boss more money to back the politicians with.

All things great and small that are top heavy, eventually fail. Maybe not immediately. It will last as long as the lower infrastructure can support the weight. Just like a building covered in snow. As long as it is evenly distributed and is below a certain weight (just like the government), the walls (just like the people) will maintain. But once you pass a certain limit, the walls will eventually give way and collapse. What happens then? You have injured people, you have chaos.

You no longer have the support of that which drives the economy in the first place and that is the people. The conductor may steer the train but the coal and the coal handler drive it. I don't know if it is possible for this government to back up and get us out of this mess. I don't think there is time enough before a complete collapse occurs. I only hope that when the collapse occurs, we don't attempt to do "business as usual". That is what got us here in the first place.

More tomorrow...

Pondering and rambling...

2009-07-16T18:47:00.007-05:00

I have about decided that to operate a motor vehicle on a public roadway no longer takes any intelligence what so ever. I travel down two major highways and interstates to go to and from work. I travel them every day and after a while you start noticing the same people about the same place every day. I say this so that you might understand that I am full well aware that these are not tourists or people who are unfamiliar with that roadway.

When you exit off of 820 going East onto I35W going North, it is a left exit. This is not new. This hasn't changed in, oh lets say, 20 years? Maybe it is that the sign is cleaner? Oh hell lets just face it. Your too busy eating, putting on your face, READING??? Dear God I passed a man literally reading the newspaper across his steering wheel WITH A CUP OF COFFEE IN HAND!

Now knowing that this is a left exit to go North, common sense says this is going to bring you down onto the left hand side of the interstate. Right?? Well the state of Texas was even kind enough to give you your very own lane to come down onto so as to keep traffic flowing. Now this third lane travels for about 1.5 miles. That gives traffic plenty of time to merge with the flowing traffic, safely. It works like a zipper. I am sure your familiar with those right?

Now a good and conscientious driver, within that 1.5 miles, has already gaged traffic ahead and is noting approximately where he will merge. Please note, I said good and conscientious driver. At the halfway point, I have already noted that there are nothing but brake lights up ahead. OK, that tells me it is going to be one of "those" mornings.

"Those" mornings are, the ones that prove my original point. Now I understand that we are all just racing to get to jobs we absolutely love to spend our daylight hours toiling away at, appreciated and loved by management. They prove that by paying us. Hey I can't speak for everyone but I am damn happy to have a job in this economy.

You meet a number of different type of people in this situation and being a people watcher, lots of fodder for the blog. There is the:

1. Mr/Ms Greenpeace... I drive my hybrid car at EXACTLY the speed limit. I move to the right lane as that is where the slower traffic, by law, belongs. (BTW? I love these guys). I signal, I pivot my head in both directions and check for blockage PRIOR to changing lanes. Hell I even signal when I exit on an exit only lane.... I am also the one with the baby on board, save the whales stickers...

2. Mr./Mrs. Executive... I am the one that is driving my high end sedan at whatever speed I chose. I have my blue tooth in and I am doing business on the fly. As a result of my blue tooth I am unable to pivot my head to check for blockage but you will slam on your brakes so as not to hit me because it is obvious I am better insured than you. I might use my blinker if I am not too busy writing a note with the other hand.

3. Juan Gonzales' and all 19 of my cousins. Legal address: Mexico.. Need I say more?

4. Blue collar John Q Citizen.. Late getting out the door, company truck, cup of coffee and cig in one hand, cell phone in the other. I am in a hurry to get to the job site so the boss doesn't know I was laid out late last night and overslept this morning, damn I hope he can't smell the beer.

5. Mr./Ms. Junior.. I haven't been driving long but you can't tell huh? I am in and out of lanes at the speed of sound. Was that a horn I heard?? Dunno, the bass speaker drowns out everything including the lights and sirens coming up behind me. Blinkers?? What blinkers? Were those that expensive option? Or maybe I am out of blinker fluid? (serious tongue in cheek here)

6. Mr. 18 wheeler... Now most of these guys, I try to cut some slack.. I really do. Some if not most of them might never have been down here before and they are truly "tourists". They are hauling TONS of stuff that will not stop on a dime and people cut them off without a second thought. These guys are busy trying to read the road signs and avoid the previous 5 types of people.

Now as you will note I said, most of these guys..That does not include the local haulers of rock, lumber, and other various types of products. These guys, some are good drivers. Unfortunately, I have not had the privilege of meeting too many of those good ones at that hour of the day. Most of them are smart, know the traffic pattern, and find another way around. No, the ones I meet are talking on their cells while driving a multiple ton bullet at a high rate of speed through congested traffic. They are on a deadline and damn it your in their way... They will cuss you, throw things at you... If your blonde and hot?? They will run down anyone to get another look.

Now my last one hits the closest to home for me...

7. Mr/Ms Motorcyclist..There are two kinds of us.. There are those of us that wear a helmet (or not in some cases), bright colors, we use our blinkers and we watch what is going on around us. We ride safely and we make it to our destinations in one piece.

Then there are the ones that make me shake my head. These are the guys with the $400 helmet but they are wearing shorts and a tank top... Oh so you want to protect your noggin but don't give a hang about the rest of the body? Oh your not gonna go down? Then you don't ride. If you ride regularly, you are going to go down at some time. Be it your fault or someone else's it won't matter.

Oh and dude? Yes, that is a woman riding that motorcycle.. Big F'n deal... No, I don't want to wave at you... and if you don't mind? GO ON! The last thing I need is to be too busy making sure you don't run me over, to not see the other guy coming up behind me fast.

I think that covers most of them and I am sure there are some I missed... must have been a slow day on the interstate.. As tomorrow is Friday, that must mean I will get to meet the other interesting drivers I missed on today's blog.

Another day and another day of it...

2009-07-15T21:40:00.001-05:00

What exactly is "it"? Is "it" chasing the American dream? What has that become? "It" used to be home ownership (wow how's that going?), kids off to college (ah the no child left behind?), grand babies and retirement (oh that's good).. Well I guess we all know how this story goes so I won't bore you with my rant on that tonight.

People say that times weren't easier when we were younger. They just appear so as a result of the wisdom of the ages... well if that is the case, I must be REALLY wise.

I read an article today about a man who put a flag outside his home. Nothing odd about that... I have one up myself. I remember being a kid and seeing flags, lots of flags. Now? Not so much. And why is that? Is it a lack of patriotism? Apathy? I think it is all of the above and then some. I guess being a military brat, maybe my patriotism bone is bigger than most.

I was privileged enough to be raised in a family of individuals that made up Tom Brokaws "Greatest Generation". And they were all that and then some! My grandmother was 66 when I was born and my daddy was her youngest child! I had cousins and more cousins. My brother, myself, and one other cousin, are the youngest grand babies... Wow that sounds nice. Been a while since I was one of the "youngest" of anything.

I saw a funeral procession the other day. I pulled to the side of the road and waited respectfully until it passed. I was raised that way and I know a lot of other people were too. But what happened to everyone else? I was the ONLY vehicle that pulled over. I even watched as some person in a pickup CUT THROUGH the procession???? What the hell was that?? My daddy would come back and haunt me till hell froze over if I was to ever do that. Oh and take off your damn hat... good lord.

I think they were the greatest generation for more reasons than just their outstanding service to their country and each other. I think they were one of the last generations who knew what respect and responsibility meant. They worked hard. Very hard. They saved their money and they hoped for a better life for their kids.

I know that every generation hopes the same for their children. That is just human nature. But somewhere along the way something got lost in translation. Something turned off or just disappeared altogether. We got greedy and we were consumed with an immediate gratification mentality. Wow look where that got us. We have products made overseas, in third world countries, and others that are not fit to use. We throw away EVERYTHING when it wears out, which, by the way, is quicker than the "old" good stuff. You remember the TV your parents had? It was a piece of furniture, literally. That thing lasted longer than some marriages.

I guess I just can't get my thoughts together today. Just kind of rambling around about everything and nothing. I hope I haven't bored you to tears. There will be more tomorrow I am sure.

Drop me a line, gimme some ideas. I am sure that most of you know I have a ton of soap boxes that I can get going with... Good night for now...

Well this is a start!

2009-07-14T12:26:00.001-05:00

This is the start of something that I hope people can understand. Something that you are more than welcome to contribute to.

I know that we have all gone through our days and we see people do things. Some good, some bad, some so smart that your in awe.. or like most days, you see something so innately stupid your just left wondering what the hell someone was thinking??

I was reading something on the net the other day and it was an article about a teenage girl that stepped into a open manhole while texting. She really wasn't injured. More her pride than anything I am sure. Now at first read I thought how irresponsible it was for the manhole to be uncovered on a busy walkway in NYC... Aha, but of course upon closer inspection, there were workers present. They were in the process of blocking off the area so that no one would accidentally step off into this open manhole. So this teenager, who is not paying attention to her surroundings, in a big city like NYC, with no parental supervision, is texting as she is walking. She lost one of her shoes to the manhole when she fell... a few scrapes and bruises and now the parents are considering a lawsuit.

Hmmm...

Ok, here is where my rant starts. Just a warning. The only one you get...

In this day and age, don't you think that the teenager in question might hold the ultimate responsibility for the "accident"?? Or even better the parents?? These are the same people that gave the child the cell phone in the first place. Maybe remedial training in paying attention is required here. I am sure at some point, (ok I am a optimist), the parents told the child about being aware of her surroundings? In case something happens? What if that had been a stranger that reached out and grabbed her, not a open manhole?

Oh and the parents want to sue? Who do you think they should sue? The city for the open manhole? Maybe the cell phone provider for the texting?

I am thinking that maybe Parenting 101 is in order. Your child does something clumsy / irresponsible and you want to sue? What kind of lesson do you suppose that sends to the child? Your only furthering the lack of responsibility issue that this recent generation is already suffering from.

If, just once, you forced your children to take responsibility for their actions, you might find that this world is a little nicer place to live.

Back years ago, a very old and wise man I once knew, explained to me that when you get in front of something, immediately, you can head off any trouble that might have ensued should you tried to have avoided it. For those of you that are younger than I am (I am only 43)... Getting in front of something means taking responsibility for something you did. Not dodging it.

I can honestly now say that the adage of common sense is gone. It really is true that if sense was so common, more people would have it.

I will continue to add to this over time. Please feel free to check back and see what I am pondering today... Feel free to drop me a comments and give me some ideas.